Shizuru and Viola
by Yuri-hime
Summary: The life, loves, and adventures of the Fujino Twins. Chapter 13 Up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** \- I don't own the characters of _Mai Hime_. They are owned by _Sunrise_.

Author's Note **\- Someone asked why I don't just post all my story chapters all at once with my story consolidation. The reason I don't and haven't is because I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to my own writing. If it's not up to a certain quality and standard that I can look at and say, "yes, I'm happy and proud to post this" then I simply can't post it ^^**

 **Some of the stories I'm re-posting now, date all the way back to 2009. It's now 2015, and while most of my work stands up to the test of time, there is still quite a bit of editing work that needs to be done for each chapter. Throw in the fact that I work a 40+ hour a week job, and usually only have enough energy at the end of the night to edit a paragraph or two, I can't really just do a full story upload. I wouldn't feel right doing that, as I wouldn't be giving the quality and standard I expect from every story I share ^^**

 **So, please bear with me as I slowly consolidate, and fully update my profile with these stories. And again I welcome any new and old readers, and still hope to hear what you all think with the revised edits, and if this tale holds up to the test of time ^^**

* * *

 **~Shizuru and Viola~  
**

* * *

 _They were born a mere two minutes apart._

Viola Fujino came out crying first, followed closely by her twin sister Shizuru Fujino, who didn't make a peep as she entered the world. Their mother held her newborn babies in her arms and placed gentle, loving kisses on their brows as their father commented that his two little ladies, were going to rock the worlds of everyone around them.

 _How true his prediction would turn out to be._

Shizuru was the more quiet and ladylike of the two, though that wasn't to say that her big sister was any less ladylike. Viola just had a... _habit_...of getting herself...and by default her little sister...into all manner of trouble. Once when they were 5-years-old, Viola somehow managed to convince Shizuru that sneaking out of their home at the dead of night to go visit the 'magical lake' near their house, would yield water-fairies that would grant any wish the young girls had.

Even at such a young age, Shizuru was unsure of her sister's plan but like most faithful little sisters, Shizuru followed along with Viola's plan. All they got for their troubles, was to be covered in mud when they slipped down the small hill leading to the lake, and slid all the way down to the water's edge.

Shizuru ended up getting a cut on her knee, and had to be carried on piggyback back to their home, while trying all the way back not to cry.

They received quite the scolding from their mother and were punished by their father, who forbade them from doing anything they would consider _fun_ , and restricted them to going straight to their room whenever they came home from school. This punishment lasted two weeks, which felt like a small eternity to the two girls. But it did little to curb Viola's more adventurous nature, and certainly did nothing to stop Shizuru from following along with whatever her sister would usually think up next.

~o~o~o~

When the girls were 7-years-old they all moved to a more middle-class neighbourhood, as they had to step down from their lofty upper-class lifestyle, because their father lost his corporate job, and had to take a job with a different company that paid far less than what he used to make.

The neighbourhood that they moved into had quite a few families in it, as the twin's mother wanted her girls to be around children closer to their age. Maybe then Viola wouldn't have as much time to think up schemes if she was out playing with friends, and Shizuru wouldn't be so willing to follow her sister into trouble, if she also had friends of her own to play with.

While this was a sound enough plan, there was one major flaw to it that the twin's mother unfortunately didn't see...meeting and making new friends certainly wasn't going to _stop_ Viola's more mischievous nature...in fact the friends that she would make would only help further _enhance_ her trouble-making side.

One day while they were in their room together, with Shizuru kicking her small feet against the side of her bed, while hugging a small stuffed hydra toy that he father had won for her at a local fair, she asked her big sister why she always did things that got them both into so much trouble.

"Honestly Vi, was it _really_ necessary to put a frog down Fujipi's back? If I hadn't tripped him when he ran past me with that stick to hit you, who _knows_ how badly he could have hurt you. As it was he never forgave us for that broken nose he got, when he landed flat on his face after I tripped him. And his parents were definitely _not_ happy with either of us, when they told Mom and Dad about it. So why do you do stuff like that, and get me into trouble with you when you do it? Is it so bad to just be ladylike like Mom always wants us to be?"

Viola had been laying on their carpeted floor, colouring in her colouring book, but when her baby sister started asking her these questions she rolled over onto her back, and looked at her twin with identical crimson-red eyes.

"It's simple, Ru. I...like...trouble," Viola answered with a completely unrepentant grin.

Shizuru let out a sigh of exasperation, before she questioned her sister further.

"But _why_ do you like trouble so much? We're twins. We're _supposed_ to be basically alike. Yet you do things that I would never even _dream_ of doing or trying. Why is that?" Shizuru asked, as she tilted her head curiously at her sister.

"Because my dear twin-sis, life would be horribly boring if we did the same things all the time. Life is fun! I like going out there, and doing crazy stuff. It makes me feel...alive and happy," Viola answered as her ruby-red eyes lit up with excitement.

Shizuru hugged her stuffed hydra closer, as a pout began forming on her lips.

"So, you think that I'm...boring?" Shizuru asked, as despite her best efforts to stop it, her eyes became watery with hurt. She adored and idolized her big sister, and to now find out that her big sis might consider her _boring_ was devastating to the 8-year-old.

"No no, Zuru! I never meant that!" Viola exclaimed in alarm, when she saw the tears begin forming in her little sister's eyes. Quickly scrambling to her feet, Viola made her way over to Shizuru's bed, which was the twin to her own on the other side of their room. Viola then gently wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders, and pulled her small body against her own.

Shizuru was doing her best to keep tears from spilling down her face, as small hiccups began slipping through her lips.

"Silly little Ru. You _know_ how much I love and adore you, and I would never _ever_ think that you were 'boring.' In fact without you, my life would be _super_ boring. You help make everyday interesting and exciting! So never doubt again that big sis loves you, and enjoys your company the _most_ out of _anyone else_ in the whole entire universe!" Viola exclaimed, as she planted a soft kiss against her baby sister's forehead.

Shizuru leaned back a bit from her sister's embrace and gave Viola a bright, winning grin.

"Okay! Yeah, you're life _would_ be pretty boring without me. You're pretty lucky to have me around," Shizuru replied with a cheeky grin, as she wiped away her tears.

"You little rascal!" Viola exclaimed, as she started to tickle her sister.

Shizuru shrieked as she tried to avoid her sister's questing fingers, and the pair spent the next fifteen minutes laughing and tickling each other.

~o~o~o~

One day when the girls were 9-years-old they were sitting on the front steps of their porch, when they noticed a large moving truck pull into their neighbourhood. Both girls watched the truck pull up with unconcealed curiosity. Right behind the truck was a family sedan that parked on the lawn in front of the vacant house right next to their home. From the front passenger seat of the car stepped a beautiful woman with short-cropped midnight-blue hair, and from the driver's side stepped a man with fiery-red hair.

Then the car's back door flew open, and out tumbled two young girls who looked to be roughly the same age as Shizuru and Viola, though maybe a little bit younger. The two new girls were arguing back and forth with each other over something. One of the girls had a long, flowing mane of midnight-blue hair, which was the same colour as the older woman. The other girl had bright-red hair that matched the colour of the male, and by now Shizuru and Viola could barely sit still with the excitement they were currently feeling.

 _They had new neighbours!_

To Shizuru and Viola this meant one thing and one thing only.

 _New friends to play with!_

The twins looked at each other with happy grins, before rising from their porch steps to run over and greet their new neighbours.

They skirted around the back of the moving truck, avoiding the men who had begun taking furniture down the truck's ramp, and quickly pulled up to a stop before the man and the woman. Then bending at the waist the twins gave identical bows, before quickly straightening and exclaimed together, "welcome to the neighbourhood!"

The woman let out a light laugh that sounded to the twins like wind chimes dancing lightly on the breeze, and the man just gave the twins a small smile as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

"My aren't the two of you precious. I take it that you're our next door neighbours, as I saw you both come from that house next to us," the woman said as she looked down at the twins with sparkling, emerald-green eyes.

Shizuru and Viola nodded eagerly at the woman, who then made a _come here_ motion to the two young girls still standing by the car. The girl with hair the same colour as the woman gave a scowl, but still made her way towards them. The other girl, the redhead, gave a dramatic sigh but she also made her way over.

"These are my children. This is Natsuki, and this is her step-sister, Nao. Now be polite girls, and say hello to..." here the woman paused and looked down at the twins curiously.

"Oh! We're sorry. We forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is Viola, and this is my 'little' sister, Shizuru. I'm oldest by two whole minutes," Viola said proudly, as she gave a toothy grin.

"Yeah, but I'm the more mature one," Shizuru mumbled under her breath, which just earned her a light pinch on the arm.

"Ouch! Vi! See, I told you I was the more mature one!" Shizuru huffed, as she gave her sister a slightly-annoyed look.

Viola just returned the look with an innocent smile, which caused the older woman to laugh again.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both, Shizuru and Viola. My name is Saeko and this is Nao's father and Natsuki's step-father, Hiroshi," Saeko said, as she wrapped her arm around the man's shoulders.

Hiroshi gave the girls a polite nod, though he didn't say anything to them. He then leaned over and whispered something softly into Saeko's ears, that sounded to the twins like, "going to help the movers." Then he gave another polite nod to the twins, and walked off towards the two-floor house that was his family's new home.

Shizuru happened to glance at Natsuki as Hiroshi walked away, and she was a bit taken aback by the look of complete loathing that was present in Natsuki's verdant-green eyes. Shizuru then jumped a bit when those magnetic eyes swung her way, and she stepped back a bit at the intensity of the stare. Natsuki gave the chestnut-haired girl a slight frown, before she turned her head to the side to stare off into space.

"Well, while this has been a fascinating meeting _Mother_ , I'm going to go catch up with Dad. Catch ya later, double-mint twins! Oh, and loser-face, I get first dibs on the best room," the redhead cackled as she ran after her father.

Natsuki's teeth ground in anger as she tore after the other girl, yelling at the top of her lungs that she would _skin her alive_ if she dared to take the best room. Nao just laughed at Natsuki, as they both ran into their new home.

That just left Shizuru, Viola, and Saeko standing on the cobbled sidewalk before the house.

Saeko released a soft, exasperated sigh. "Well, I'll make sure to come by later to meet your parents, girls. Please tell them that it was a pleasure to be greeted and welcomed by their daughters, and that they raised two very sweet girls."

Shizuru blushed at the compliment, while Viola just gave Saeko a wide grin.

"Thank you! We will," Viola replied as she took Shizuru's hand into her own, and began leading her sister back towards their home.

Saeko waved a bit at the retreating girls, before she turned and made her way towards her own home. And as Shizuru and Viola made their way up the front steps of their home, and began making their way inside, Viola whispered excitedly into her sister's ear.

"Shizuru...things are _finally_ starting to get interesting around here!"

* * *

 **AN** \- Phew! That's done. There was quite a bit of editing and re-writing that needed to be done, as I mentioned before this story was published 6 years ago ^^

Hope you all enjoyed the finished product! Please let me know what you all thought of it~ =3

 **Edit AN 2** \- And no this story doesn't have rape in it. I don't write rape stories geez.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note** \- Just to clarify a bit, Shizuru and Viola have been trained since they could properly walk and talk by their mother, to be the 'perfect' young lady...with varying degrees of success in Viola's case :p  
As such their speech and mannerisms will be more 'mature' than a regular child their same age ^^

And also to reiterate there is no 'rape' in this story. There never has been, and there never will be. The situation doesn't even get that close.

So, I hope you will all enjoy this next chap ^^

* * *

 _Natsuki always hated him...Nao's father, Hiroshi._

Ever since her mother married the man two years ago, when Natsuki was six and Nao was five.

Hiroshi acted like a calm quiet man, but he always made Natsuki feel uncomfortable, as he would do things like just silently watch her. He would sit in his recliner chair and just _stare_ at her, as she watched tv when her mother was at work. Or when she was outside playing with the neighbourhood kids, he would watch her from behind the curtains, thinking that she didn't notice him.

All of this attention given to a child not his own, also made Nao _very_ angry and jealous. The young redhead had already lost her mother when she died of an incurable illness. She would not now lose her father to this _other_ girl, who was seemingly stealing her father's affections away from her. So, Nao grew to completely dislike Natsuki and also Natsuki's mother, as she was the woman who was trying to take her _true_ mother's place away. So she and Natsuki argued, bickered, and fought all day long and night if they could get away with it. And Nao was _extremely_ cold towards Saeko, despite how hard the older woman tried to get Nao to like her.

To Natsuki her family was _painfully_ dysfunctional.

And now that they had moved into this new neighbourhood, and had already been 'accosted' by the local-twin-welcome-wagon, Natsuki wondered where things would go for her from here. Hiroshi was still creeping her out, as his actions towards her of late had seemed to be getting bolder. No longer was he merely just staring at her, but he was also now slightly touching her. A light brush against the arm here. A tight squeeze against her shoulder there. All normal things most people would say a caring father would do. But it wasn't normal to Natsuki...at least not where Hiroshi was concerned.

Natsuki wanted to mention something to her mother about it, but at the same time she didn't want to cause trouble in her mother's marriage. She knew how much her father had hurt her mother when he had cheated on her, and they ended up getting divorced. And her mother now seemed so happy in her new marriage, even though Natsuki couldn't stand Nao, and her father made her feel worried.

But things between Natsuki and Hiroshi didn't get truly unbearable until two days after they had all moved into their new home. Maybe it was the fact that Natsuki now had her own room, and no longer had to share one with Nao. Maybe it was the fact that his wife was fast asleep in their new room upstairs, while Natsuki's room was located downstairs. Maybe he finally just decided to become bolder in his disturbing behaviour. Natsuki would never know what finally triggered Hiroshi to creep into her room late at night well after midnight, and sit down on the edge of her bed.

Naturally a light sleeper, Natsuki woke up instantly as she felt her bed dip down, and almost screamed in panic when she saw the shadowy figure of her step-father staring down at her, a strange and terrifying gleam in his eye.

Hiroshi immediately clapped his hand down over Natsuki's mouth, and held the fingers of his other hand up to his lips in a 'shushing' motion.

Natsuki could only stare wide-eyed at the man before her, as she waited in terrified silence for him to say or do something. Hiroshi then leaned down, and breathed lightly into Natsuki's ear, "mention one word of this to your mother, and you will regret the day that you were born. Do I make myself clear?"

Natsuki's eyes widened even more in fright, and tears came to her emerald-green eyes as she nodded mutely in agreement.

"That's a good girl," Hiroshi said with a pleased smile as he removed his hand from her mouth, and patted her lightly on the cheek.

Natsuki could only stare quietly at the man before her, frozen stiff as she wondered what he would do next. But then to Natsuki's dizzying relief, Hiroshi merely rose to his feet, and made his way back towards her bedroom door, throwing her a small and disturbing smile before he left.

Natsuki stayed up crying for the rest of the night, and when her mother asked her why her eyes were so red the next morning and if her baby girl was alright, Natsuki just mumbled something about getting something in her eyes, and rubbing them too hard.

Hiroshi hid a smirk as he saw that Natsuki was going to obey him, and not dare say a word about him going into her room last night.

Nao scowled at Natsuki, as she saw her father watching the dark-haired girl again, and she dug into her bowl of cereal with gusto to try to distract herself from her anger and jealousy.

So, that's how Shizuru and Viola found Natsuki later that morning. Eyes still slightly-red, sitting on the steps leading down from her front porch, and scowling at the beautiful summer day.

"Hiya, Natsuki! Why don't you turn that frown upside down. It's a great day out, and you shouldn't look so grumpy," Viola exclaimed, as she bounced up towards the green-eyed girl, with Shizuru walking at a much more sedate pace behind her.

"Would you just go away please. I'm _really_ not in the mood to deal with you two right now," Natsuki grumbled, as she turned her head away from the two chestnut-haired girls, trying to hide her still-red eyes from them.

But Shizuru's naturally-red eyes caught the redness of Natsuki's own, and she asked softly, "are you okay, Natsuki? Your eyes are red...like you've been crying," Shizuru asked with a worried look on her face.

"Listen, I said that I'm _not_ in the mood to deal with you two today, so just go away!" Natsuki all but shouted at the twins, as her voice shook and her eyes filled with barely-repressed tears.

Shizuru took a step back, then bowed her head slightly and whispered a soft apology for having bothered Natsuki. Tears then came to her eyes from being shouted at by the girl, with whom she wanted to become good friends with.

Viola looked from Natsuki's teary-eyed, scowling face to her sister's teary-eyed face, before letting out a loud, exasperated sigh.

" _Seriously_ , the two of you are like two peas in a pod. Come on now, let's go," Viola stated, as she first grabbed her sister's hand and then Natsuki's, and began tugging the two of them along behind her.

"Oi, oi! What do you think you're doing! I _told_ you that I don't want to be around you two right now," Natsuki cried out, as she was pulled out onto the cobbled sidewalk before her home, and then dragged along to a hidden path between their houses, that led to the wooded area behind their homes.

"And I don't care," Viola sang cheerfully, as she led her sister and a continuously-protesting-Natsuki down the hidden path, and through the woods to the destination that she had in mind.

"Ugh! Is your sister _always_ this annoying and stubborn," Natsuki asked Shizuru, who was quietly allowing her sister to lead her along.

Shizuru felt a light blush stain her cheeks, as she quietly answered Natsuki, "uh yes...she usually is. You just have to learn to live with it, as Vi never truly means any harm, and she does mean well...usually," Shizuru said with an indulgent smile towards her sister.

Viola turned her head a bit and gave Shizuru a small wink and grin, before bursting through a small stand of bushes and back out into the open air, with her two captives still stumbling along behind her.

"Oh..." Natsuki breathed out softly, as she looked around at her surroundings.

The three girls were by the side of a large, sparkling-blue lake with the sun's warm light glinting playfully across the surface. There was a small hill with a tall tree standing on it, and a long rope hung from a thick branch that extended out over the water. Beside that rope hung another long rope, but this one had a black tire that could be used for sitting and swinging attached to the end of it.

"Hey, sorry to keep you two waiting! But we're here now, and we brought a new friend! Come on Natsuki, I want you to meet two friends of ours. Chie, Aoi, we'll be right there!" Viola called out to the two girls, sitting on what looked like a picnic blanket by the edge of the lake. One of the girls with short, spiky-brown hair waved back and Viola once again tugged on Natsuki and Shizuru's hands, pulling them along towards her friends.

Natsuki groaned loudly to herself as she looked over at Shizuru who let out a light giggle, and then just kind of shrugged her shoulders apologetically towards her big sister's back as if to say, "sorry...you just have to learn to live with Viola."

Natsuki let out another loud groan, as one clear thought crystallized in her mind.

 _How did I get myself into this!_

* * *

 **AN** \- Hope you all enjoyed~ ^.^  
I'll try to have another chapter out soon, and please let me know what you all thought of this one =3

 _~ Yuri_


	3. Chapter 3

"I dare you, Natsuki."

"No."

"Come on, Natsuukiii."

"I _said_ **no**."

"How about it, Viola. Think we should do it?"

"Why yes Chie, I do believe we should."

"Natsuki, we _triple dog dare_ you to do it!"

"What! You can't do that! You can't completely skip from a dare to a _triple dog_ dare," Natsuki protested loudly as she, Chie, Aoi, Viola, and Shizuru all stood together on the small hill overlooking the lake. "Plus, I already said that I _refuse_. I don't care _how_ many times you two boneheads dare me to do it. I am _not_ jumping off of this hill into that water. It's probably freezing cold in there!" Natsuki exclaimed, as she waved her hands towards the lake's sparkling surface.

"Actually it's the middle of summer, Natsuki. So the water is actually quite warm," Shizuru replied, as she swung lightly back and forth in the black tire, that hung from the tree closest to the edge of the small hill.

"Hmph, whatever. It doesn't matter anyways. I'm still _not_ doing it," Natsuki huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, and glared icily at her two tormentors. "And Chie, according to troublemaker number one over here, aren't you and Aoi older than her by a year? So that would make you both 10. Shouldn't you be more mature than this, and _not_ be going along with whatever crazy scheme Viola comes up with?" Natsuki asked, as she scowled at the spiky-haired girl.

Chie just gave Natsuki a huge, bright grin while Aoi hid an amused smile.

"Nah, I like how Vi thinks. And Shizuru is just as much fun to hang out with. Living in this neighbourhood used to be _super_ boring until they moved in. And now with you here Natsuki, things are going to be even more entertaining!" Chie responded, while flashing Natsuki a victory sign with her fingers.

Natsuki groaned loudly, as she dropped her face into her hand.

Shizuru let out another light giggle at Natsuki's predicament, as she began swinging higher and higher in the tire.

Then suddenly without warning and a loud _snap_ , the rope holding Shizuru and the tire broke.

Shizuru suddenly found herself flying through the air, and headed straight for the water below. She didn't even have time to scream, before she hit the water's surface hard and instantly began sinking.

"SHIZURU!" Viola screamed in terrified panic, as she made to jump straight into the water after her sister.

"No, Viola! Don't! You know you can't swim! You'll only sink too," Chie cried out, as she quickly wrapped her arms around Viola's waist, to keep the struggling girl from jumping into the water, in a vain attempt to save her sister.

"I don't care! I DON'T CARE! Let me go, Chie! LET ME GO!" Viola screamed, as tears began streaming down her terror-filled face.

Before Chie could respond to the desperately-distraught girl in her arms, both saw a figure suddenly race passed them, and dive headfirst into the lake below.

Chie looked back towards the tree and saw that Natsuki had taken off her shoes, and the light jacket she'd been wearing, before heading for and diving into the lake after Shizuru.

"Aoi! Quickly! Go get Natsuki and Shizuru's parents! And have them call an ambulance!" Chie exclaimed to her best friend, as she continued to keep an iron-clad grip on Viola's waist, still not trusting the other girl not to perform a suicidal leap after her sister.

"I'll be right back with help!" Aoi responded, as she quickly dashed off in the direction of the two girl's houses.

"They haven't come back up to the surface, Chie. Oh god, where's my baby sister?" Viola cried out, as she fell to her knees while still being held in Chie's firm grasp.

"Don't worry, Vi. They'll come up soon. Let's go down and wait by the water's edge, so we'll be able to help them when they come up," Chie said soothingly, as she began leading a crying Viola down the hill towards the water's edge. Just as the two of them reached the bottom of the hill, they saw a dark head finally break the water's surface, gasping loudly for air and pulling along Shizuru's limp form.

Viola finally wrenched herself free from Chie's grasp, and splashed into the shallow waters of the lake to help Natsuki bring the prone figure of her sister back onto land.

Viola immediately fell to her knees beside Shizuru, and tenderly cradled her sister's head in her lap. She didn't care that the pretty dress she'd worn that day was now soaked through, as she gently began stroking trembling fingers through the damp bangs, pressed down against her baby sister's forehead.

"Please Zuru, please. Wake up...open your eyes for your big sis...please Shizuru... _please_..." Viola begged as she gently began rocking her sister in her arms, as tears slipped down her face; splashing lightly against, and mixing with the lake water on Shizuru's face.

"Viola...she'll be okay...alright...I _promise_ you...she'll be alright," Natsuki huffed, as she stood bent over at the waist with her hands resting shakily on her knees.

Viola looked up into Natsuki's resolute green eyes, and opened her mouth to reply, when the sound of worried shouts reached both their ears. Viola looked back to see both her and Natsuki's parents racing towards them, with the sound of an ambulance wailing loudly in the close distance.

"You're going to be okay, Zuru," Viola whispered against her sister's damp, tawny locks before she placed a light kiss on Shizuru's forehead, and waited for her parents to reach them.

"You're going to be okay."

~o~o~o~

 _You're going to be okay..._ the soft, caring words filtered slowly down into Shizuru's consciousness. Nothing else penetrated the dark void that she found herself unexpectedly floating in. There was a slight memory here though...one that Shizuru clung to desperately as a lifeline. The image of Natsuki reaching out to her with a determined look on her face, as Shizuru felt herself sinking deeper and deeper down into the lake's depths. Then Natsuki's small hand had firmly grasped onto hers, allowing the dark-haired girl to pull her forward against her chest, before kicking her feet to push them both back up to the surface.

Shizuru had closed her eyes, and allowed herself to feel nothing but the pressure of Natsuki's chest rising and falling rapidly, as they both shot quickly back up towards the surface. She felt no pain, and no worry then...and only two words ran through her mind...over and over again...

 _I'm safe...I'm safe..._

* * *

 **AN** \- Hope you all enjoyed. As always please let me know what you all thought of this chap~ =3


	4. Chapter 4

"She's been running a fever for the last two days. Ever since Natsuki rescued her, and we took Shizuru to the hospital. As you both know she stayed at the hospital for most of the last two days, and then the doctor allowed us to take her home. They gave us antibiotics and medicine to reduce her fever, as it's not too very high. She just has to stay in bed for the next few days, and allow the fever to run its course," Shizuru's mother Kumiko said to Natsuki's parents, outside the closed door leading to the twins room. She was a beautiful and elegant woman, with piercing-red eyes and long, flowing dark hair.

"Yes, and we also can't say thank you enough for what your Natsuki did for our daughter. She saved her life, and I and my family will be forever indebted to you and your daughter," Hiro the twin's father, said as he bowed deeply towards Natsuki's parents. Hiro had semi-wavy chestnut hair, and bright blue eyes that looked upon Natsuki's parents with complete gratitude, once he had straightened back up from his bow.

"Ah, no need to thank us again, Hiro. You and Kumiko have both thanked us and Natsuki quite a bit over the last two days. I'm so very proud of my daughter, and her quick actions that led to Shizuru's rescue. Those swimming lessons that I insisted she start taking when she was five, have paid off in a way that even I never foresaw," Saeko replied to the twin's parents, as she stood beside her ever-silent husband Hiroshi. "But Hiro and Kumiko, if it's not too impolite to ask...I just wondered if Shizuru and Viola have ever taken any kind of swimming lessons?" Saeko asked, with a curious tilt of her head.

Hiro and Kumiko looked at each other in shame for a few seconds, before looking back at Saeko and regretfully shaking their heads.

"No, we...we hadn't really seen a need for the girls to take swimming lessons yet. It was something that had been planned for the future. I guess the future has arrived a lot sooner that we would have liked. Once Shizuru is well again and she feels up to it, we'll enroll both her and Viola in swimming lessons," Hiro answered as he looked over at his wife, who nodded her head in agreement.

"Oh that's a wonderful idea! And actually why don't you enroll them in the swimming program that Natsuki is a part of. She would be the 'older' one in that case, as she is almost in the advance children's swimming program. She just has to pass one more test, and she'll be moved from the intermediate class to the advance class. Or the _big kids_ class as she likes to call it," Saeko said with obvious affection for her child shining through in her voice.

"That sounds like a great idea, Saeko! I'll run it by the girls later. In the meantime, we should probably stop talking so much right before their door. We should let Shizuru get as much rest as she needs," Hiro said, as he curled his arm around Kumiko's waist. Kumiko looked up at the father of her children with a tender smile on her face, before she leaned up, and gave her husband a soft kiss on the cheek.

Hiro blushed as Saeko let out a light giggle at his expense, and Hiroshi just allowed a tight smile to cross his lips. The four adults then began to walk off, heading towards the kitchen where Kumiko said that she would make them all a light snack.

~o~o~o~

Inside the twin's room itself, Shizuru was laid out flat on her back on her soft cushiony bed, with her comforter pulled all the way up to her neck. Viola lay on the side of her sister's bed, with her back pressed against the wall, as she lightly ruffled her fingers through her sister's chestnut bangs.

"How ya feeling right now, Ru?" Viola asked softly in the semi-dark room, as the blinds had been drawn to keep the sunlight from bothering Shizuru's tired eyes.

Shizuru sniffled a bit and then let out a series of short coughs, which she tried to stifle. Viola leaned forward and gave her sister a light hug in sympathy. "It's my fault that you're like this! If only I could have jumped in too and saved you. I'm useless as a big sister!" Viola cried against her sister's chest, as she continued to hold Shizuru close.

"Don't say things like that, Vi! You know that's not true. I don't know how to swim either, and I should have checked the rope to see if it was rotted or not, before I began swinging in the tire. You're not useless! Isn't that right, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked as she turned beseeching, crimson-red eyes towards the silent figure sitting quietly on a stool beside her bed.

Natsuki let out a soft grunt as she crossed her arms, and then nodded her head in agreement.

"You're not useless, Viola. No one realized that the rope was as rotted as it was. And I've been taking swimming lessons for the last 3 years, so I knew that I could go in and get Shizuru out without you also getting hurt," Natsuki replied, as she looked and held Viola's teary eyes for a few heartbeats.

Viola nodded her head slowly in agreement to both her sister's and Natsuki's argument, but inwardly she continued to feel terrible about her baby sister almost drowning right before her, and her being unable to do a thing to save her. Viola resolved then that she would learn to swim, and be able to swim like a dolphin! So that she would be able to help her sister if she ever needed to be saved from drowning again. _In fact,_ Viola thought, _Shizuru should also learn how to swim, so that there would never be a need for her to be saved from drowning again!_

"Zuru, you and I should learn how to swim when you get better, okay?" Viola said with a small grin at her sister, as she brushed away a stray tawny lock from Shizuru's still-hot forehead.

A shiver raced through Shizuru's body that had absolutely nothing to do with her fever, and she pulled her comforter up until it covered the lower half of her face, and only her fever-reddened eyes were visible.

"I don't wanna learn how to swim. I don't want to _ever_ have to go back into deep water again," Shizuru said in a small, shaky voice that caused Viola's heart to break a little, resulting in her gathering Shizuru into her arms and gently rocking her.

"There there, Ru. No worries. You'll have big sis there with you, and I'm _sure_ your 'rescuer' Natsuki will also be there by your side. Isn't that right, Na...tsu...ki," Viola responded in a sing-song voice, as she speared Natsuki with an intense look.

Natsuki felt herself begin to sweat a bit at the look. With a slightly-nervous laugh, and a bright-red blush that darkened her cheeks, Natsuki replied, "of-of course I will. I'll be...there...for you, Shizuru...I promise...I'll be there." Natsuki then felt a small hand take her own, and she looked down in surprise to see Shizuru's hand clasping hers tightly. When she looked back up, it was to see the most beautiful of smiles gracing Shizuru's face.

Natsuki felt her heart thump weirdly and painfully for a second or two, before she mentally shook herself and returned Shizuru's tight squeeze, tentatively giving the honey-haired girl a small smile.

"We'll call ourselves the three musketeers then!" Viola exclaimed as she sat up excitedly, and held out her hand so that she could rest it on top of Shizuru's and Natsuki's clasped palms.

"All for one!" Viola exclaimed, as she pumped her small fist into the air.

Shizuru and Natsuki felt wide grins spreading across their faces, as they also cried out.

"And one for all!"

* * *

 _Hope you all enjoyed! Please review~ =3_


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Shizuru, let me go get something from my room real quick, and I'll be right back," Natsuki said as she gently squeezed the sick girl's hand, before running quickly out of the twin's room, and outside towards her own home. As she stepped inside her house, Natsuki realized that her mother and Nao weren't there. Luckily she didn't see Hiroshi either, so she quickly darted into her room, grabbed the object she'd come for, and left her room to head back over to Shizuru's house. Unfortunately, as she was running down the hallway, headed back towards the front door, an arm reached out from the living room and pulled her inside, causing her small body to slam against a hard form.

Natsuki looked up with a frightened expression into the smiling face of her stepfather.

Hiroshi looked down at Natsuki, and began softly running his fingers through her silky dark-blue hair.

"Where's the rush, my little Natsuki? Your mother took Nao shopping...despite Nao not wanting to go...so you and I can spend some 'quality' time together. Now doesn't that sound nice, my dear?" Hiroshi asked as his hand moved down, and began gently rubbing Natsuki's back.

Natsuki wrenched herself out of Hiroshi's grasp, and without looking back, dashed as quickly as her little legs would take her out of her house. She eventually burst back into Shizuru and Viola's bedroom, huffing and panting as she slammed the bedroom door shut behind her.

Viola looked over at Natsuki with surprised, burgundy-red eyes while Shizuru looked worriedly at the dark-haired girl.

"Natsuki...is everything alright?" Shizuru asked in a soft, concerned voice.

"I'm, ah...yeah..yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about bursting in like that," Natsuki replied with a quiet, nervous laugh as she made her way back over to Shizuru's bed.

Both twins looked at each other, their disbelief at Natsuki's answer seen plainly in each others eyes, but they silently decided between them to let it go...for now.

Whatever it was that had obviously rattled the younger girl, they would get it out of Natsuki later.

"Anyways...um...here...Shizuru. It's just a small gift...it's my stuffed puppy friend...his name is Duran...I figured he could keep you company until you get better," Natsuki said shyly as she held out a small, blue, stuffed puppy toy.

Shizuru's garnet-red eyes lit up with joy as she reached out from beneath her covers, and gently wrapped her small arms around Duran, huggling him close against her chest.

Viola gave Natsuki a dazzling smile at the generosity being shown to her sister.

Natsuki blushed bright red at the smile, and the softly cooing sounds Shizuru was making at Duran.

"Natsuki, could you please sit on the edge of my bed?" Shizuru asked softly, as she continued to hold Duran tightly against her.

Natsuki gave a slightly-nervous nod, as she inched onto the edge of Shizuru's bed, and then was nearly tackled back off of it, by the force of Shizuru's hug. And because Viola was never one to ever be left out of any kind of fun, she also jumped onto the small pile that Shizuru and Natsuki were making. So it was a giggling pile of arms and legs, that Kumiko and Hiro walked in on a couple of minutes later.

The two parents smiled softly at each other, as they watched the girls all bonding, and then quietly made their way back out of their daughter's room, deciding to come check Shizuru's temperature later, as right now she seemed to be doing quite well.

~o~o~o~

"Okay! This is your first swimming lesson. Luckily for you two, I'm now an _advanced swimmer_ so I'm allowed to help your swim instructor in training you two," Natsuki said with a wide, proud smile as she stood in her dark-blue, one-piece swimsuit. She was looking over at Shizuru and Viola who were both in identical, bright-red swimsuits as they all stood by the side of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, at the local swim center.

The twins were there for their first private swimming lesson, as Shizuru had refused to even approach the pool if there were going to be other people present. So, it was just the twins and Natsuki, with all of their parents sitting on the bleachers by the side of the pool, and a female swim instructor floating patiently in the pool beside the children.

Nao was spending the day at the house of an energetic, young girl named Mikoto, whom she had met at an ice-cream shop, when she and Saeko had gone to the mall recently. The two had just clicked, and had become fast friends over the next couple of weeks, and were now at the birthday party for Mikoto's brother Reito, who was turning ten that day.

Shizuru had gotten over her sickness much quicker than her parents had expected, and Viola teased her by saying that it was because of the _magic_ of the gift that Natsuki had given to her. Shizuru had just blushed at this, and told her sister that she was being silly as usual.

Viola had smirked at her twin, as she'd reached out to take Duran off of Shizuru's bed, and had almost lost her hand in the process, at how quickly Shizuru swiped the puppy toy back from her. Viola had then chortled loudly at her sister, until Shizuru had lightly bonked her on the head with Duran. They had then spent the next few minutes tickling each other, and laughing together on Shizuru's bed.

Natsuki had walked in on them like that, and because their 3 musketeers motto was _all for one, and one for all_ Natsuki soon found herself jumped by the giggling pair. They all then spent the rest of their time together, rolling around on the ground, and laughing hysterically with each other.

Now they were here at the swim center for the twin's first swimming lesson, and Natsuki was feeling quite grown-up as she was essentially the twin's 'senior' today.

"Okay, the very first thing you two gotta know how to do, is how to hold your breath underwater. Don't worry about learning how to actually swim and all that stuff yet. That part of it comes later. When you're _almost_ as good as me," Natsuki said with a smug grin.

Shizuru and Viola looked at each other, and then rolled their eyes in amusement at Natsuki's quickly-swelling ego.

"Yes, swim instructor, ma'am, sir!" Viola exclaimed as she gave Natsuki a mock salute, which Natsuki narrowed her eyes at until they were small, green slits.

Shizuru covered her mouth, and tried desperately to hold in her giggles.

"Hmph, that'll be 10 laps around the pool for you, brat," Natsuki said with a sniff, as she turned her nose up into the air.

"What? No way! There is _no way_ you're going to get me to run laps around this pool. We're _supposed_ to be here to learn how to swim, not run. Mom! Tell Natsuki that we're here to learn how to swim not run!" Viola yelled up into the bleachers, to where her parents were sitting.

"Girls, you're all keeping the swim instructor waiting, so hop to it!" Saeko replied back instead of Kumiko, as she pointed with an amused smile towards the patiently waiting swim instructor, still floating quietly in the water.

Viola gave a loud huff as she crossed her arms across her chest, and let a small pout form on her lips. Natsuki let a wide smile cross her face, as she waved the twins over to the edge of the pool, so that they could begin their swim lesson.

~o~o~o~

"Wow! Just learning how to hold our breaths underwater, and doing kicking lessons while holding onto the edge of the pool was tough today," Viola exclaimed as she fell back against a big, fluffy pillow in the twin's living room.

"And how did you do today, Shizuru? I know that you were having some problems with going back into deep water after...well... _that_ incident," Aoi said softly, as she rested her head against Chie's pajama-clad leg.

All the girls were over at the twin's house for a slumber party.

Chie, Aoi, Natsuki, Shizuru, Viola, and even Nao and Mikoto were all present, with all of them dressed in PJ's or night shirts. There were bowls of popcorn spread out, as well as boxes of pizza, and cans of soda. They also had a wide selection of movies to choose from to watch on Hiro's large, widescreen TV.

"Oh, I was alright since we never actually went near the deep end of the pool. Our instructor...and Natsuki...taught us in the shallow end of the pool," Shizuru replied, as she turned mischievously-sparkling, crimson-red eyes up towards Natsuki's face, as she had decided to follow Aoi's lead, and rest her head on Natsuki's leg.

Natsuki was looking everywhere but at Shizuru's cheekily-smiling face, as her own face flamed bright-red. Natsuki then felt something bounce off of her nose, and she looked over to see Viola grinning evilly at her, as her hand reached back into a bowl of popcorn to get more ammunition.

"No. Just _no_. You throw more at me, and I'm using your sister as a shield!" Natsuki exclaimed, as she reached down and grasped Shizuru's shoulders, eliciting a light squeak of surprise out of the chestnut-haired girl.

Viola narrowed her eyes at Natsuki and then said in a low, threatening voice, "you wouldn't _dare_."

Natsuki held Shizuru tightly against her chest, causing the captive twin to blush fiercely, while Aoi and Chie chortled madly at their friends' antics.

"Just _try_ me!" Natsuki replied, in an equally low and threatening voice, as she also narrowed her eyes and stared intently at Viola; silently daring the free twin to do something... _anything_...and her captive sister would get it!

"Ugh! Darn you! I _will_ get you next time. You and your dastardly ways will go down! Neeexxxt tiimmmeee," Viola exclaimed, as she imitated every thwarted villain in every cartoon in existence she'd ever seen.

"Ha! I win, you lose," Natsuki gloated, until she realized that she was still holding Shizuru close against her chest. She immediately let go of her captive, as if she was holding a hot potato. She then blushed so red that Chie and Aoi began to wonder in amazement, if Natsuki's head wasn't going to simply pop off, and fly off into the stratosphere.

"You're all such immature brats. I can't _believe_ that you're all supposed to be older than me," Nao sneered, as she dangled another Twizzler over Mikoto's wide open mouth.

"Hmm, Twizzlers are so nummy!" the dark-haired, golden-eyed girl cried out, as she laid on the ground by Nao's feet, with her mouth wide open to receive more of the yummy treat Nao was feeding her.

"Ha! You should talk! Look at you and Mikoto. Now if that isn't childish, then I don't know what is!" Natsuki exclaimed in reply.

Nao just sniffed, and turned her attention away from her annoying step-sister, and went back to feeding Mikoto.

Natsuki scowled in annoyance at Nao, and would have continued doing so for a bit, if she didn't feel a sudden light touch against her mouth. When she looked over to see what it was, she saw Shizuru lightly poking her mouth with a kernel of buttery popcorn.

"Say _ahhh_ Natsuki," Shizuru said with a small, teasing grin.

Natsuki just wished for the earth to open up and swallow her whole in her blushing embarrassment as Viola, Chie, and Aoi all burst out laughing at her in amused glee.

* * *

 **AN** \- Hope you all enjoyed this chap! Please review, and let me know what you all thought of it~ =3


	6. Chapter 6

The sleepover at the twin's home had gone so well, that another one was planned just two days later, but this time it would be held at Natsuki's home, and would only be attended by the '3 Musketeers'.

"Okay then, it's decided! We're gonna watch _Transformers_! I wanna see all the evil bots go boom!" Natsuki cried out with a huge grin, as she spread her arms out wide to demonstrate the level of exploding destruction she wanted to see.

"No, no, no! We're gonna watch _X-Men_! I wanna see Rogue and Wolverine, and all the other mutants kicking butt!" Viola exclaimed, as she wiggled her arms around in what she thought was a good imitation of Storm calling forth the winds to do her bidding.

"Um...I'd actually really like to watch _Mulan_. Ever since I saw you playing with her character in that game you love Natsuki...you know that Kingdom Hearts one...I've _really_ wanted to see the actual movie she starred in," Shizuru said as she gave Natsuki a soft, sweet smile.

Natsuki stared dumbly at Shizuru for a few seconds with her mouth hanging slightly open, as she was struck by Shizuru's heart-warming smile.

Viola looked from Natsuki to Shizuru and back again to Natsuki, before she allowed a mischievous grin to cross her face. She then took advantage of Natsuki's complete distraction, and ran quickly over to the DVD player, grabbed the X-Men movie dvd, and quickly popped it into the player.

"Ha, Natsuki! I rule, you drool! Literally!" Viola crowed loudly in victory, as she pointed her finger at Natsuki and chortled.

"Hey! No fair! I was uhh...distracted!" Natsuki cried out, as she crossed her arms over her chest, and sent Viola what would one day famously...or infamously...become the 'Kuga Death Glare.'

Viola just placed her finger under her eye, pulled the skin under it down, and stuck her tongue out at Natsuki.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you now!" Natsuki cried out, as she grabbed a pillow and went to clobber her arch-nemesis into submission.

"Eeep!" Viola cried out before she ran laughing away from Natsuki, who was flailing her pillow wildly at Viola's head.

Shizuru just placed her hand to her mouth, and giggled at her two best friend's antics.

Later on that night when all was once again quiet, and the three young girls were laying peacefully beside each other, Natsuki suddenly popped up wide awake. She sat up rubbing her eyes for a few seconds, then let out a loud yawn as she decided that she was thirsty, and wanted some water. Making sure not to awaken either twin as she had been snugly sandwiched between the both of them, Natsuki quietly made her way out of the living room, and down the hallway towards the kitchen. She entered the kitchen and walked over to the fridge, where she reached in to take out a bottle of water, that she usually kept there to drink at times like this. Once she'd quenched her thirst, she put back the half-empty water bottle, closed back the fridge door, and turned around to make her way back to the living room and her sleeping friends.

Because she knew the route to-and-from the kitchen and living room by heart, she never had to turn on any lights on her journey, so her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she was suddenly grabbed in the darkness by a pair of strong hands. She was then hoisted up into the air, and onto what her frightened mind realized was the kitchen counter. She had been so surprised that she hadn't had a chance to take in any air to scream. That problem was now remedied as she quickly drew air into her lungs, and opened her mouth wide to release a loud scream. However she never got the chance to do so, as she felt a heavy and sweaty palm clamp quickly over her mouth, and stifle the scream that was about to burst forth from her lips.

"Shh shh now, my sweet little Natsuki. It's just me, dear 'ol Dad. No need to get upset. I just wanted to spend some quiet time with my special girl. It's been a few days now and I've been unable to get any... _quality_...time with you lately, as you're always around those two, pesky twins. What about me, Natsuki? I'd love some 'affection' shown my way as well," Hiroshi breathed into Natsuki's small ear as he pressed his rough, unshaven face against her trembling face.

Natsuki whimpered, as she tried desperately to move her face away. Her eyes then widened, as she felt Hiroshi breathe hot air against her cheek. She screamed again into the sweaty hand pressing against her lips, as tears of fright and frustration began streaming from her eyes, to run down the large hand that covered half her face.

"I'm going to kiss you now, my dear Natsuki. Now don't worry. It won't be bad. In fact, I'm sure that you'll like it quite a bit," Hiroshi said with a slightly-crazed hitch to his voice, as he nuzzled his hairy face against Natsuki's neck.

Natsuki began shaking her head vigorously, as she struggled in Hiroshi's hold in a desperate attempt to break free.

"Please relax, Natsuki. Don't worry, as I said...I promise you...you'll like it..." Hiroshi murmured as he began leaning forward, ready to place his lips on Natsuki's and claim the terrified, young girl's first kiss.

Natsuki closed her eyes as tears continued to fall steadily from them, as she braced herself to have her first kiss stolen, by the man who was _supposed_ to protect her from harm...not _cause_ it.

Suddenly however, the kitchen lights snapped on, and a series of loud gasps echoed loudly throughout the kitchen.

Hiroshi jerked his head away from Natsuki with a loud snarl. Natsuki sagged with utter relief as she re-opened her eyes, and looked into the completely shocked faces of Shizuru, Viola, her mother, and Nao.

"Hiroshi...please... _please_ tell me that what I'm seeing is **not** what it looks like. In fact, no. Just **no**! I don't even want to _hear_ what you have to say. Put my daughter down right fucking _now_ , or so help me I _will_ skin you alive!" Saeko cried out, as she stared at her soon to be ex-husband with burning anger...and pain...in her eyes. Saeko decided right then and there that she was _never_ going to get married again. She always seemed to end up choosing the absolute worst men, and now this _bastard_ had turned out to be an ugly snake about to assault her daughter!

"What are you all doing here awake anyways!" Hiroshi roared as he grasped Natsuki tighter against his chest, while his eyes began darting around wildly, as if looking for a way to escape.

"Nao came to my room looking for you. She'd had a bad dream, and wanted to sleep by her father for the rest of the night. But when we saw that you weren't in bed, we came downstairs looking for you. I decided to do a quick check on the girls in the living room, and I saw that Natsuki was also missing. Of course I became worried at this point, wondering if something had possibly happened to you both. So I woke up Shizuru and Viola to keep them close, while we all went in search of both you and Natsuki. We heard sounds coming from the kitchen, so we came to see if you both were in here...I just never thought the something horrible that I was imagining, would turn out to be _you_! Now for the last time, Hiroshi. Release my daughter. NOW!" Saeko screamed, as she pulled out the baseball bat from behind her back, that she was going to use to clobber the possible robber she'd imagined in her house, holding Natsuki and Hideki at gun point.

Hiroshi let out another nasty snarl, as he yanked Natsuki's body off of the kitchen counter. He then wrapped his arm tightly around her waist, to keep her secured against him. He then reached out with his free hand, opened a kitchen drawer, and removed a large butcher knife which he then held to Natsuki's throat.

Shizuru and Viola let out loud, terrified gasps while Nao clutched desperately onto Saeko's leg, as the image of her father as a loving, caring man crumbled before her very eyes.

Hiroshi turned wild eyes towards his wife, as he placed the sharp edge of the blade closer against Natsuki's throat, before speaking in a low, raspy, slightly-crazed voice.

"Make me, bitch!"

* * *

 **AN** \- Trust me, even _I'm_ creeped out by Hiroshi this chapter...and I _wrote_ the damn story lol XD

Please review! I'd love to hear what you guys thought of this chap~ =3


	7. Chapter 7

"Now Hiroshi, don't do anything you're going to regret. _Please_ put the knife and Natsuki down," Saeko pleaded desperately, as she watched the man she had sworn to love, threaten her daughter.

"Shut up, bitch! You don't understand anything! Natsuki is mine. Mine! And I'm going to leave here with her, and you better _not_ try to stop me. You hear me!" Hiroshi screamed, as the last remaining shreds of his sanity fractured and broke.

Natsuki whimpered as she looked pleadingly into her mother's terrified, green eyes. She then she looked over at Shizuru and Viola, who both looked back at her with equally terrified expressions.

Natsuki realized then with a heavy heart, that no one knew how to save her. So her self-preservation instincts kicked in, and she began squirming about frantically in Hiroshi's grasp, in a desperate effort to break free.

Suddenly though, she felt a stinging pain against her neck, and heard her mother and the twins gasp loudly. Natsuki realized then with horror, that her desperate struggles had caused the knife at her throat to nick her skin.

"You little idiot! Stop squirming around so much! Now you've gone and made me cut your pretty little neck. I don't want to mar your beautiful skin so early. They'll be plenty of time for that later," Hiroshi said as he leaned down, and licked away the small amount of blood leaking from the small cut on her neck.

Natsuki shuddered with revulsion and made herself go absolutely still, so that she wouldn't accidentally cut herself again.

"Okay, Hiroshi. I'm asking you again... _please_ let Natsuki go. I _beg_ of you. Let my baby girl go," Saeko cried out in desperation.

Shizuru and Viola clung tightly to one another, as they continued to watch the horrifying events unfolding before their eyes.

Nao turned to press her face against Saeko's leg, as she could no longer bear to watch the beast that her father was becoming before her very eyes.

"Okay, I'm going to leave now. _With_ Natsuki. None of you are allowed to follow us. You got that? _None_ of you! Saeko, I'm taking the car. If I hear even the slightest hint of police sirens, I _will_ end Natsuki's life. Are we clear on this? Saeko...ARE WE CLEAR ON THIS?!" Hiroshi screamed, as he looked at Saeko with wild, insane eyes.

"Yes, yes! I hear you, Hiroshi. Oh god, just leave Natsuki alone! _Please_! I'll give you anything you want! Do you want the house? Take it! The car and my life savings? Have them! Just...please Hiroshi... _please_...don't take my baby girl away from me...I can't...I can't go through that again... _please_..." Saeko cried desperately, as she slowly sank down onto her knees.

Viola wrapped her small arms around Saeko's shoulders, while Shizuru tried to do the same for Nao, but the heartbroken little girl just shrugged off Shizuru's caring embrace, and leaned heavily against the only _true_ parent she had left. Saeko wrapped her arm around Nao and pulled her close, while still keeping a tight hold on the baseball bat.

"We're leaving now, Saeko. Remember _don't_ try to follow or stop us. Or Natsuki's life is forfeit," Hiroshi said in a deadly whisper, as he began edging towards the kitchen entrance, with his hostage held tightly against his chest.

Natsuki looked with terrified eyes at her mother, as Hiroshi moved them quickly passed the huddling group.

Saeko looked back at Natsuki and softly mouthed the words _don't worry, don't worry_ to her. Natsuki silently mouthed back _okay_ even as she was roughly pulled down the dark hallway towards the front door. Her heart began pounding painfully as it truly began to sink in, that she may never see her mother or friends again, if Hiroshi managed to make it out the front door with her. She almost began struggling desperately again at this thought, but quickly thought better of it when she remembered the still-painful cut on her neck.

Hiroshi let out a loud curse as he fumbled around in the dark below the staircase, trying to find the car keys that were usually hung up on the wall there. He was so focused on keeping a firm hold on Natsuki while simultaneously trying to find the keys, that he never noticed the quietly-creeping steps of a small figure, as it silently made its way down the steps above his head.

That's why when Mikoto suddenly leapt from the steps, over the railing of the staircase and onto Hiroshi's head, he could only let out a startled cry, as he unconsciously released his hold on both Natsuki and the knife, to get the wildly flailing child off of his head.

Natsuki immediately began scrambling away from Hiroshi, when he unintentionally released her. She then made her way over to a light switch, and quickly flicked the light on. In the brightness of the now lighted hallway, Natsuki could see Mikoto scratching and clawing at Hiroshi's face, as her small figure clung desperately to the back of his head, while he desperately tried to toss her off. He finally decided to just slam his back _hard_ against the wall, causing Mikoto to cry out in pain, as she slowly slid down the wall to the hard floor below.

Hiroshi bent over at the knees to catch his breath, before quickly trying to straighten back up, as he realized he'd lost both his captive and his weapon. However he never got the chance to fully rise, as Saeko came screaming down the hallway, baseball bat raised high, and murder shining brightly in her eyes.

 _ **CRACK!**_

The baseball bat made contact with Hiroshi's head, with the sheer force of the hit knocking him clear off his feet, and slamming him solidly into the wall behind him.

All was quiet for the next few seconds after that, as everyone silently stared at the growing pool of blood spreading under Hiroshi's head.

Saeko stood breathing heavily as she looked down at the man whom she had promised to spend the rest of her life with, and could now only see the insane monster that had tried to take her daughter away from her. Then with hands beginning to violently shake, Saeko dropped the baseball bat, and watched it hit the floor with a loud _thunk_. She then dropped to her knees and held out her arms to Natsuki, who was still standing by the light switch, utterly dumbstruck at all that had just happened. Then her face crumbling and a loud pained cry escaping her lips, Natsuki quickly ran over to her mother, flung herself with crushing force against Saeko's chest, and began deeply sobbing.

Saeko gently stroked her fingers through Natsuki's midnight-blue locks, while whispering loving and soothing words to her over and over again.

"Mikoto!"

Nao's small, frightened voice cried out as she rushed passed the hugging mother and daughter, and made her way over to her best friend, who was slowly sitting up and tenderly holding her head.

Saeko quickly gathered Natsuki up into her arms, and made her way over to Nao and the little girl, who had just helped save Natsuki's life.

Saeko would be forever grateful that Mikoto had asked to sleepover that night with the other girls.

Once again going down onto her knees, Saeko did her best to gather all three girls into her arms, and just sat there rocking them all, whispering over and over again, "thank you Mikoto, thank you." She then whispered, "it's going to be alright, girls. I promise. Everything is going to be alright now." The front door then burst open and Shizuru, Viola, and their parents came charging in, with the reassuring sounds of police sirens swiftly approaching, being heard through the open door behind them.

What Natsuki didn't know and was later told by the twins, was that as Saeko had rushed down the hallway to save her daughter, she had cried out to the twins to go wake up their parents, and have them call the police. Shizuru and Viola had of course not wanted to leave, but they understood immediately that this task was incredibly important, so they quickly ran out the backdoor, and went straight over to their house to awaken their parents to call the police.

Now as the police cars pulled up to the front of the Kuga's home, and all the neighbours began pouring out into the street to see what was going on, all the parents inside the house held onto their children, while the police began making their report. And when an ambulance arrived just a few minutes later to cart Hiroshi's bloody, unmoving body away the parents made sure to keep all the children's heads turned away.

It would later be reported that while Hiroshi survived the strike to the head from the baseball bat, he still suffered _massive_ brain damage and had slipped into a permanent coma. He was then transferred from the regular hospital to a prison hospital, where prisoners who could no longer function on their own, but still required incarceration were held.

Hiroshi would spend the rest of his life as a vegetable, until the day his heart finally stopped beating and he died alone, as Nao would _never_ again see her father while he was still alive. She had disowned him forever, the night that he had turned on his family.

The police that night decided to take all the statements they needed at the house, instead of taking everyone down to the police station as they normally would. They could clearly see how traumatized everyone was, especially the children, and decided to let them have the time alone together.

Saeko, Natsuki, and Nao decided soon after to go away for a few weeks on a small, family vacation to begin the necessary healing process they all needed. But before they left for their vacation, everyone hailed Mikoto as a hero, and the golden-eyed girl was treated to a hero-sized dinner at the restaurant of the Tokiha's, who had the best ramen restaurant in town.

~o~o~o~

Eventually a year and a half passed, and while old wounds were slow to heal, they at least didn't hurt nearly as much anymore.

It was now Natsuki's 10th birthday, and she no longer woke up screaming at night, haunted by memories of the night her life had almost become a _true_ nightmare.

She was now surrounded by all of her family and friends in her home, while she grinned wildly at the massive, triple-layer chocolate cake placed before her, on the table in her family's living room. Her mother was there, as well as the twin's parents. Shizuru and Viola were of course there, with Shizuru standing right next to her as ever since that horrifying night, the two had become practically inseparable. Chie and Aoi were also present, standing in a corner with their heads close together, as they giggled at some scheme they were obviously cooking up.

Viola, now 11-years-old, stood by the punch bowl set up on a smaller table, near the back of the room. As she reached forward to get a cup to pour herself a drink, she felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned around to see Mikoto's dark-haired brother Reito, giving her a dazzling smile as he held up an already full cup of punch. Viola gave him a polite nod, as she took the cup from his hand. She then had to clutch the cup tightly to her chest as a fast-moving, dark-haired blur flew by. She heard Mikoto yell out a slightly-breathless _sorry!_ as she continued running from Nao, who she was playing tag with.

Natsuki yelled out to Nao, that at 9-years-old she was _way_ too old to be running around the house like a loon. Nao just stuck her tongue out at her big sister, and gave her a big grin.

Natsuki returned the grin before she turned back towards the cake, and all ten of the brightly-lit candles placed on top of it. Over the past year and a half Natsuki, Nao, and Saeko had steadily grown closer, and could now _truly_ call themselves a 'family'.

Natsuki felt the smile on her face grow, as she felt Shizuru take her left hand, and Viola come up and take her right. They then all grinned at each other, before looking at the cake to blow out the candles together. All the adults in the room turned to face the trio, and that included Mikoto and Reito's parents, as well as the twin's parents and the Tokihas. Mikoto became such a regular customer at their restaurant, and their daughter Mai got along well with all the children present. So Mai, who was standing beside her little brother Takumi, was of course invited to Natsuki's birthday party.

"Alright, girls! On the count of three, blow out the candles," Saeko called out happily, as she held up a video camera to record the entire event.

"Okay, 1-2-3!"

On three Natsuki, Shizuru, and Viola all bent over to blow out the candles, but suddenly and without warning the front door burst open. The wind from the force of the door flying open, blew out the candles before the girls could do it themselves. Everyone looked in shocked silence at the opened door, and the tall man standing silhouetted by the sun before it. The man then stepped fully into the house, and twin gasps were heard from both Natsuki and her mother.

"Ryo!"

" _Daddy!_ "

Everyone stared in dumbfounded shock at the tall, dark-haired, light-blue eyed man who had just been revealed to be Saeko's ex-husband and Natsuki's father.

"Hello dollface, and my little pumpkin. It's been a while, hasn't it?" the man asked with a boyish grin, as he looked first at Saeko and then at Natsuki. "You've sure grown up well, Nats. Your mother has done a good job with you."

"Natsuki. My name is _Natsuki_. Not 'Nats'," Natsuki answered with a low, unhappy growl as she looked at the man who had abandoned her and her mother years ago.

Shizuru and Viola squeezed Natsuki's hands in a show of unified support, and Natsuki squeezed their hands back as she shared a grateful smile with them.

"Haha, you're just like _**her**_ , Natsuki. Got such a stubborn streak in you. Wonder where you get it from, your mother or me?" Ryo exclaimed with a loud laugh, as he moved back towards the front door, and waved his hand in a beckoning fashion to someone still standing outside.

"Ryo...?" Saeko trailed off, as her heart began to pound wildly in her chest.

"Ryo, what do you mean by _her_? Could you...could you have found...oh god, Ryo... _please_ tell me that you found her!" Saeko cried out as she put the video camera down, and raised trembling hands to her lips as her eyes began filling with tears.

Natsuki looked in confusion at her mother, then at her father, then back at her mother as she wondered just what in the world her parents were talking about.

She soon received her answer. Dimly Natsuki was aware of the sound of a glass hitting the floor and shattering, but her attention wasn't focused on that. _All_ of her attention was now focused in spellbound astonishment on her mirror image, who had just walked sullenly into the room.

It was as if Natsuki herself had just entered the room, except for the clothes that the other girl was wearing. She wore a fit-just-to-her-size leather jacket, jeans torn at the knees, a plain white t-shirt, and scuffed sneakers. She also wore a scowl on her face, as she realized that everyone in the room was staring at her in rapt fascination and disbelief.

"What are you all staring at? See a ghost or something?" the girl growled out in a low voice, that caused a shiver to inexplicably run down Viola's spine.

Ryo let out another loud laugh, as he placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, only to have her immediately shake it off. Ryo chuckled lightly as he said, "as I told you before, she's stubborn. She's just as headstrong and stubborn as you, Natsuki. In fact, probably even more so."

Natsuki tried to swallow around the large lump that had formed in her throat, as she opened her now-dry mouth to ask the question that her heart already knew the answer to.

"Daddy...who...who is she?"

"She's your twin, Natsuki," Saeko answered instead, in a voice so filled with sorrow and maternal longing, that it hurt Natsuki to hear.

 _"She's your twin sister."_

* * *

 **AN** \- Dun dun dun! Lol, well I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you all thought of it~ =3


	8. Chapter 8

_"She's your twin sister."  
_

As the words echoed through Natsuki's mind, she could only stare dumbfounded at her 'twin' before her.

"How did...how did you find her," Saeko asked in a half-choked voice, as she slowly began moving towards her ex-husband and her once-lost daughter.

Natsuki's look-a-like scowled at the movement and took a step back, which caused Saeko to halt in her steps. Her heart clenched in pain at the apparent rejection from the young girl.

"Saeko, perhaps you can tell us what's going on here," Kumiko said gently as she came up beside Saeko with Hiro by her side, and lightly wrapped her arm around the distraught woman's shoulders.

"Uh yes, yes alright. I can do that," Saeko replied, as she wiped away a stray tear from her cheek.

"Yes, _mother_. I'd like to hear the story of how you _abandoned_ me as well," Natsuki's twin hissed angrily.

"Hey! Shut up! Don't talk to my mother like that you...you...copy-cat!" Natsuki cried out furiously.

The other girl sneered as she placed her hands together, and lightly began cracking her knuckles.

"How 'bout you come over here and _make_ me shut up, you spoiled brat!" the girl challenged, as she looked Natsuki straight in the eyes.

"With pleasure!" Natsuki growled, as she began moving forward to give her _twin_ a lesson in manners.

"NO!" the simultaneous voices of Saeko, Shizuru, and Viola cried out as both twins grabbed hold of Natsuki's arms, to stop her from advancing any further.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! I'm gonna pound this fake good!" Natsuki exclaimed, as she struggled to break free of Shizuru and Viola's hold.

"Fake? Fake! Oh, you really _are_ a spoiled brat! For your _information_ , according to dear old 'dad' here, _I'm_ the older one by 5 whole minutes. Oh, and I _have_ a name. Not one given to me by my _loving_ parents, as I never even knew who they were up until recently. I was placed into foster homes all my life. When I was old enough to understand that 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' weren't going to magically show up and take me back, I _chose_ my own name and stopped going by the one the nurses at the hospital gave me when I was born. So, for all you concerned, I go by the name Kruger now. It's my own business how I came up with that name, but it's a good one and holds special meaning to me. And that's all you need to know," the young girl named Kruger exclaimed, as she crossed her arms over her chest, and looked away from all the people staring at her.

Kumiko blinked a few times at this bit of information, before opening her mouth to speak. "I think it's safe to say that this party will be...postponed...so that Saeko and Natsuki can have some time to speak with their...long-lost relatives here."

All the party guests murmured their agreement. Everyone then began trailing out of the house, wishing Natsuki a happy birthday as they left, and giving Natsuki's twin curious stares that they all tried to hide, as they passed the young girl and her father on their way out. Nao decided to stay over at Mikoto's house, as she really didn't want to have to deal with this new family drama just yet.

Once everyone else left, Kumiko squeezed Saeko's shoulder in support, then turned to tell Shizuru and Viola that they would be leaving too.

"No please, Kumiko and Hiro...I'd like both you and the girls to stay...please...I need the support," Saeko said, as she turned pleading eyes towards her two best friends, as the three adults had grown very close over the last two years.

"Not a problem, Saeko. Kumiko, myself, and the girls are here for you," Hiro said, as he gave Saeko a warm smile.

Saeko nodded once in grateful relief, before she turned back towards her ex-husband and long-lost daughter.

Shizuru placed her small hand into Natsuki's, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Natsuki turned to look at Shizuru and returned the squeeze gratefully. Viola looked at Kruger with a thoughtful expression on her face, as she found for some perplexing reason, that she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of the other midnight-blue haired girl.

"Well, let's hear it then. _Please_ tell me the reason why you abandoned me when I was just a baby!" Kruger hissed in hurt anger, as stared hard into Saeko's identical, emerald-green eyes.

Saeko took in a deep breath and slowly released it, before she began talking.

"I thought you were dead," Saeko answered quietly, and she noted the look of shocked disbelief on her oldest daughter's face.

"What do you mean you thought I was _dead_? I'm standing _right here_ **alive** in front of you! So what kind of lame story are you trying to feed me!" Kruger exclaimed angrily.

"Now now, Kruger dear. Be nice to your mother. She _is_ trying to explain to you what happened," Ryo said with a light smile, as he put a restraining hand on Kruger's shoulder. Kruger tried to shake it off again, but found that this time Ryo held a firm grip. Taking in and releasing a deep breath, Kruger forced her body to relax. She then grumbled under her breath for Saeko to continue with her 'story'. Natsuki scowled deeply at Kruger, as she fought the urge to walk up to her 'twin', and punch her right in her disrespectful face.

Shizuru squeezed Natsuki's hand, when she felt the dark-haired girl tense up beside her in anger. She leaned her body gently against Natsuki's in silent support, and Natsuki felt her body immediately relax at the feel of Shizuru's warmth against her. Viola continued to watch Kruger, as she was interested in how the other girl spoke and moved. She was also trying to understand her own apparent fascination with Natsuki's twin.

"Well, to understand what I mean when I say that I thought you were dead, you have to first know and understand that my parents hated your father. They said that he was a bad influence on me, and that no daughter of theirs would _ever_ be associated with the 'likes of him'. My father especially truly despised Ryo. And so when I became pregnant with both you and Natsuki, my father threatened to have Ryo jailed for 'sexual assault'. I agreed to stay away from Ryo, if my father agreed to leave him alone. My father agreed reluctantly, but then he told me that I had to get an abortion. He said that the Kuga family name would be tarnished if word got out that I'd had a child out of wedlock. I told him in no uncertain terms that I was _not_ going to abort my babies. My father was furious. The next nine months were some of the hardest I've ever had to endure living under my parent's roof. Then it came time for me to give birth. But there was a complication during the birthing process, and when I awoke from being sedated, I was told that...that I'd lost my first child. That first child...was you, Kruger," Saeko whispered tearfully to the young girl standing stock-still before her.

Kruger just stared stone-faced back at Saeko, as she waited to hear the rest of the story.

Saeko released a low, mournful sigh before she continued speaking.

"Well, I was absolutely _devastated_. I just couldn't _believe_ or process that I had lost my first child. But then...then a nurse came into my room later that night, while I was holding onto and crying over Natsuki. Ryo was also in my room at the time, holding me close as we shared the grief of losing our first child so suddenly and cruelly. But then this nurse, who to this day I never knew who she was...she said...she said that you _hadn't_ died. That you were alive! But that a man from a _very_ important and affluent family had paid off the hospital staff to 'fake' your death, and to tell me that I had lost you during childbirth. She then said that you'd been taken away, and that all records of your existence had been destroyed. There was no paper trail for me to follow to find you. You had literally disappeared into the night, and I could find no trace of you _anywhere_ , no matter where or how hard I looked. And god knows I _looked_. I knew...oh, I just _knew_ that my father was involved in the whole horrible mess somehow. When I confronted him about it after being released from the hospital, the asshole didn't even _try_ to deny any involvement. In fact, he said that he'd been trying to make me believe that I'd lost _both_ of my children, but someone on the hospital staff...who I'm _sure_ was the same nurse who came to me that night...hid Natsuki away until I came out of sedation, and so my second born wasn't taken away with my first."

Saeko's fist clenched tightly in remembered fury at this point, as she continued to recount the heart-wrenching tale, of how her firstborn had been taken away from her.

"And do you know what my father's reasoning for doing all of that was? For the nine months that I was pregnant, he'd managed to keep me out of the public eye, so no one even knew that I was pregnant. He told everyone that I was overseas traveling across Europe. His plan was to have you and Natsuki taken and given away, with me being left to believe I'd lost you both in childbirth. Then life to his sick and twisted mind, would go back to the way it was before, with our family name being left _untarnished_. I almost killed my father right then and there. I moved out of my parent's home that very day, and swore to _never_ return. That's why you've never met your grandparents, Natsuki," Saeko added as she paused in her story, to look over at her youngest daughter.

Natsuki nodded numbly, as she stood entranced by her mother's story. She'd never in her wildest dreams...or nightmares...imagined all of this had happened in her mother's past.

"Ryo and I struggled for the next three years together. While I went to college to get my degree in Information Technology, and began working on building my own IT company, Ryo was out getting drunk and drowning his sorrows in booze and women. I finally couldn't take the cheating he began engaging in any more, and told him to leave. We'd gotten married shortly after I left my family, so when we divorced Ryo went his way and I went mine. Then a couple years ago, I received a call from him saying that he'd found a lead in finding you, Kruger. My baby girl...my firstborn...after all the dead ends and lost leads we'd had before, _finally_ we had something. Ryo then disappeared again and I didn't hear from him for another year, before he called again to say that he and a friend of his who worked as a _specialized_ private detective, doing jobs for certain 'high paying' clients, were getting closer to finding you. I didn't want to know or even really particularly cared, about _what_ this detective friend of Ryo's did as a living. As long as he could help find my missing girl, that was all that I cared about. Ryo had apparently done this guy a favour once in the past, and so to return the favour he was using all of his... _connections_...to help find you, Kruger. I didn't hear from Ryo again for a very long time after that, and this is the first time I've seen him since our divorce. And in he walks with the one person in my life I thought I'd never see again...Kruger...my beautiful baby girl...please...may I...can I...hold you..." Saeko asked fearfully, as she looked with pleading eyes at her long-lost daughter.

Kruger looked back at Saeko with a slightly-lost look on her face, as she tried to process all the information Saeko had just given her.

 _My...mother...didn't abandon me...she didn't give me away because she didn't want me...I was taken **away** from her...my mother...loved... **loves** me..._ Kruger thought wonderingly, as she raised tear-filled eyes to the woman she'd dreamed about meeting her whole entire life. Then with breath hitching from tears she struggled to hold back, Kruger ran forward towards Saeko, and threw her small body into her mother's outstretched arms. Both mother and daughter sank slowly towards the floor, their bodies shaking heavily with tears as they cried into each others arms, clinging desperately to one another.

Natsuki had by this time sat down in a chair at the table, where her long-forgotten birthday cake rested upon. Shizuru was sitting by her side on another chair, tightly holding onto one of Natsuki's hands, while gently rubbing the back of it in silent comfort.

It was all just such a mental overload for Natsuki.

A _huge_ mental overload.

In just the space of half and hour, she'd gained a twin sister, seen her father whom she hadn't been in contact with for years, and found out that her grandfather was a kidnapper.

It was all a bit much for the young Kuga to take, and so she was even more grateful to have Shizuru by her side, giving her steady comfort throughout all of these shocking revelations. Viola stood a little off to the side, and watched silently as Kruger finally stepped a bit out of Saeko's embrace.

Saeko lovingly brushed away the tears from her older daughter's cheeks, causing Kruger to blush a bit as she realized she'd completely lost it in front of all these people.

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you anything about your past, when I finally tracked you down at that foster home, Kruug. I _knew_ your mother could tell the story way better than I ever could, and honestly she deserved to be the one to tell it," Ryo said with a small grin as he looked at his oldest child, who then turned and gave him a deep scowl.

"For the _last_ time, old man. The name is Kruger. **_Kruger_**. Not _Kruug_ , not _Krug_ , not _Krugy_ , and I **swear** it you call me that last one _ever_ again, I will run your motorcycle off the road," Kruger said in a low growl, as she pinned her father with a steely-eyed glare.

"Motorcycle? Ryo _please_ tell me that you haven't had my baby girl zooming all over the place on the back of that death trap? Did you at least make sure she wore a helmet?" Saeko demanded, as she too pinned Ryo with an identical, steely-eyed glare.

Ryo felt a shiver run down his spine at the twin looks of death he was receiving.

"Truly like mother...like daughter," he muttered under his breath with another small shiver.

"What was that?" both Saeko and Kruger demanded at the same time, before looking at each other and bursting out laughing...unconsciously breaking the last remaining tension that had hung about the room with their shared laughter.

"Umm...hello...did everyone forget about me?" Natsuki asked in a small voice, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at her.

"Of course not, sweetheart. Come over here please," Saeko replied in a soft voice, as she waved Natsuki over towards her and her twin sister.

Natsuki swallowed nervously as she slowly rose to her feet. She felt Shizuru give her hand a final reassuring squeeze, before her chestnut-haired best friend slowly released her hand.

Shizuru and Viola then walked over to their parents, who wrapped their arms tightly around their daughters, as they tried to imagine what it would have been like to have lost either one of their baby girls for so many years. Their hearts broke for Saeko when they thought about all she'd been through over the years. But then their hearts rejoiced for her, as she was now able to reunite with her long-lost daughter, and they couldn't be happier for her.

"Seriously though...what's up with that name anyways... _Kruger_. You _do_ realize that your name is going to be 'Kruger Kuga' from now on? Nao is gonna have a _field day_ with that one," Natsuki said with a small chuckle, as she came to stand beside her mother and sister, and lightly poked Kruger in the chest.

Kruger just raised a dark eyebrow at the finger poking her chest, before she let a slightly-wicked grin cross her face.

Before Natsuki even knew what was happening, she suddenly found herself in a light hold with Kruger giving her the noogie of a lifetime.

"You _do_ realize brat that you have _years_ worth of noogies coming to ya, don't you? I've got a lot to make up for," Kruger exclaimed gleefully, as she continued to ruffle her fingers furiously through Natsuki's dark-blue locks.

"Moooom...," Natsuki cried out piteously, as all the adults and even her so-called best friends, burst out laughing.

* * *

 **AN** \- Really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review~ ^.^


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note** \- Omg, exhaustion XD

50-60 hour work weeks have begun in earnest, and will continue on for the foreseeable future. I'll do my best to at least have something posted once a week, on my day off =3  
Thanks for the continued support guys! Me love you long time~ ^.^

* * *

"Okay girls, I believe we still have a birthday cake in need of cutting," Saeko said with a light sniffle, as she wiped away the few stray tears that remained on her face, from her tearful reunion with her lost daughter.

"Cake? Did someone say cake?" Ryo piped up with a wide grin, as his light-blue eyes tracked over to the forgotten birthday cake on the table.

"Yes, cake. But none of its for you. And actually now that Kruger is here, we should start the birthday party back up again," Saeko said as she lightly ran her fingers through Kruger's navy-blue hair, which caused a light blush to appear on the young girl's face.

"You know, you don't have to include me in the celebration," Kruger mumbled, as she looked down at her sneakers. "I mean...it's not like I was here for any other birthday party before this one...so...you all don't have to force yourselves to include me in this one."

Natsuki rolled her eyes at her twin in response. She then reached out, took hold of Kruger's hand, and began to bodily drag her twin sister over to the cake on the table. "Stop being so silly. Birthday cakes are meant for the birthday girls, and since you _are_ my sister that means you're getting some cake, even if I have to cram down your throat for you," Natsuki said with a quick grin over her shoulder, as she continued to pull Kruger over to the birthday cake.

Kruger felt a small grin form on her lips, as she allowed herself to be pulled along. When they both finally stood before the cake on the table, Natsuki released her hand which allowed Kruger to raise it, and lightly rap her sister against the side of the head.

"Don't get so cocky, brat. Or it's gonna be you with cake stuffed down your throat," Kruger replied with a playful grin.

Suddenly though, she felt a light tap on her shoulder which drew her attention to the side, where she saw a chestnut-haired girl with eyes the color of sparkling rubies, staring back at her with a quirky grin. Standing slightly behind her was _another_ chestnut-haired girl with the exact same shade of ruby-red eyes.

Kruger found herself blinking once, then twice, before she opened her mouth to say, "oh right, I thought I was seeing double when I came in earlier. So who are you two? The Doublemint Twins?" Kruger asked with an amused smirk.

The honey-haired girl gave her an answering smirk, before she slowly raised her hand, and lightly tapped Kruger on the tip of her nose.

"I definitely like you. You've got spunk," the girl said, as her smirk widened into a full-blown grin.

Kruger felt her mouth drop open, as she stared dumbfounded at this strange girl before her.

"Oi, just what are you on! And an even better question is, just who the heck are you?" Kruger demanded as she raised her hands, placed them on her hips, and gave the girl before her what she thought was her own unique and 'original' _Kuga Death Glare_.

The girl before her let out an amused giggle, before she reached back, took the hand of her 'double' and lightly pulled her forward to stand next to her.

"My name is Viola, and this is my twin sister, Shizuru. We're Natsuki's best friends and... we could be yours too!" Viola exclaimed with a bright grin.

Kruger crossed her arms over her chest, raised her nose into the air, and gave a light sniff.

"As if I'd want to be friends with two _more_ princesses," Kruger answered in a slightly haughty tone.

Saeko, Ryo, Hiro, and Kumiko all stood on the other side of the table, watching their kids interact with one another, while trying to keep amused grins off of their faces. Ryo tried to move his hand down, so that it would lightly grasp Saeko's, but Saeko wasn't having it. She made sure to move her hand away, when she felt Ryo's fingers lightly brush against her hand. She turned to face her ex-husband, and gave him a scowl that perfectly matched the one her eldest daughter was giving the Fujino twins.

Ryo let a slightly nervous chuckle escape him, as he quickly stuck his stray hand into his pants pocket instead.

Viola let out a light, teasing laugh at Kruger's reaction that try as she might, Kruger found reminded her of tinkling wind chimes.

Kruger let out a light _hmph_ in response to Viola's teasing laughter, before turning her gaze towards the almost-forgotten birthday cake. She looked down at the table for something to cut the cake with, and with a bright grin she spotted a plastic cutting knife. Then trying to hide her childlike eagerness, Kruger nonchalantly picked up the plastic knife. She then looked over towards Natsuki, who had stood beside her during the whole exchange between her and Viola, and lightly raised her eyebrow her twin.

"So we gonna cut this cake or what?"

Natsuki felt the corners of her lips curl upwards, and she found herself thinking that even though it had been quite a shock to find out that she had a twin sister, it was also kind of nice. She was beginning to get an idea of how Shizuru and Viola always felt, to have someone there who was your exact double. And even though their initial meeting had been a bit...shaky at first...Natsuki couldn't deny that there was a definite... _connection_...between the two of them now, that she could practically almost _feel_.

Kruger had by now taken the plastic knife, and pushed the tip down into the center of the cake. She left her small hand resting on the plastic handle, refusing to look over at her sister or the Fujino twins, as a light blush crept slowly onto her face.

Shizuru and Viola quickly glanced at each other with small grins, as they realized what Kruger wanted but was refusing to say, as she struggled to maintain her _cool_ attitude. So Shizuru reached out, and lightly threaded her fingers through Natsuki's. She then gently placed their joined hands below Kruger's, on the handle of the plastic knife. Viola moved up to stand beside Kruger, but instead of placing her hand on the handle like Shizuru and Natsuki, Viola placed her hand right on top of Kruger's, which caused the emerald-eyed girl to start slightly. Viola gave Kruger a small, teasing, secret smile as she gently squeezed her hand. The blush on Kruger's face grew warmer, as she did her best to look anywhere but at Viola's smiling face.

 _Oi...why do I have such a bad feeling that I'm in_ _ **big**_ _trouble with this doublemint twin?_ Kruger groaned to herself, as she continued to unsuccessfully fight her blush.

"Oh wait, wait! Let me get my video camera! I have to make sure I have all of this recorded!" Saeko exclaimed, as she reached over and picked up the video camera, that she'd placed on the table earlier. She brought the camera up to her eye as she focused in on her two daughters, and her eyes immediately filled with tears as she took in the beautiful image, of her twin daughters standing side-by-side within her easy reach.

Saeko felt a a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, and then an equally gentle squeeze around her waist. She lowered the camera slightly, to give Hiro and Kumiko grateful smiles for their continued love and support.

Ryo stood slightly off to the side, looking almost like a lost puppy who didn't quite know where he belonged, or if he should even be where he was.

Saeko let out a small sigh, as she decided to take pity on him, considering he _had_ found Kruger. No matter how much he'd hurt her in the past by cheating on her, he had now more than made up for it, by finding and bringing their daughter back into their lives. So, Saeko made a slight _come here_ motion with her head, and like the proverbial puppy Ryo perked right up, and trotted over to the other adults in the room.

"Okay girls, on the count of three, I want you all to cut the cake!" Saeko cried out, as she once again held the video camera up to her eye.

Both sets of twins looked at each other, and as if they could all now feel the strange, new connection flowing between them, they all grinned brightly at each other, as Saeko began counting down. When she finally reached _one_ all the adults, plus Shizuru and Viola, cried out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATSUKI AND KRUGER!" With an excited and exuberant tug of the knife, the girls cut straight down the center of the cake.

As everyone stood around Kruger cheering, clapping, and wishing her and Natsuki a 'Happy 10th Birthday', she suddenly felt traitorous tears come to her eyes, and she did her very best to keep them from falling. She'd never known this feeling of belonging...of love and warmth before. She wanted to cherish it without letting anyone else know, just how much she was being affected by it.

Suddenly, something lightly touched her nose and narrowing her eyesight down, Kruger saw that a bit of cake icing had been placed right on the tip of her nose. She quickly looked up into twinkling, ruby-red eyes as Viola let out a light, teasing laugh before dancing away to the kitchen to retrieve paper plates for cake slices.

Kruger reached up, and wiped away the bit of icing with her finger. Then hoping no one was paying attention, she quickly licked the icing from her finger, and tried to fight the bright brush that began forming from her action.

 _Yup...definitely in **big** trouble with that twin.  
_

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Hope you all enjoyed! Please review~ =D


	10. Chapter 10

"Okay I'm back! I decided I didn't wanna stay at Mikoto's place tonight, and would rather be home," a young voice called out, as the front door opened and Nao came walking in. She paused for a couple of seconds to turn back around and hold up her hand to wave, while calling out, "I'll see you later, Mikoto! Thanks for you and your brother walking me back home."

Once Nao had said her goodbyes she turned back around, closed the front door behind her, leaned her back against it, and stood facing everyone present in the room.

"So how's the party going?"

Kruger looked over at the young red-haired girl, and asked the first question that came to her mind.

"Okay, now who the heck are _you_?"

"Hmph, I would be asking _you_ that question, but I already know who _you_ are," Nao answered back, as she raised her hand and used it to flip aside the ends of her short red hair. "You're the twin sister of my annoying older sister," Nao answered, as she pointed first at Natsuki and then Kruger.

Kruger wasn't quite able to hide her surprise at hearing this bit of information.

"Older sister? Natsuki's your _sister_? So that would make you _my_ sister as well?" Kruger asked in an incredulous voice.

" _Step_ -sister," Nao corrected Kruger as she held up her finger, and wagged it and her head side to side in a negative motion.

"Stepsister? So if you're my stepsister then that would make your father my stepfather? So where is he?" Kruger asked as she looked around at the adults, and then at Shizuru and Natsuki.

A tense, uncomfortable silence descended upon the room after the question was asked, and Kruger got the intense feeling that she'd just set off a landmine with her curious question.

"Hey...why'd y'all go so quiet all of a sudden? What's going on? What...did her father kill someone or something?" Kruger asked with a slightly amused laugh.

Saeko let out a slight gasp and almost dropped the video camera, as Nao turned her face away from Kruger and clenched her hands into tight fists.

Kruger looked around in sudden alarm, and her jade-coloured eyes widened in shock, as she quickly said, "I was...joking...oh god...I was only joking!"

Saeko slowly put the camera down on the table, and moved quietly over to the front door. Once there, she knelt down in front of the now trembling Nao, and gently and tenderly wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter. Where two years ago Nao would have resisted such affection, now she allowed her small body to melt against her stepmother's.

"I don't... understand what's going on. Whatever it is...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to cause any trouble," Kruger exclaimed, as her voice cracked a little at the high level of emotion that she could suddenly feel in the room. She felt a small hand take her own then, and she looked over in startled surprise to see Viola who gave her a small, gentle smile.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. This is just a very... _sensitive_...subject for everyone here," Viola explained, while giving Kruger's hand a gentle squeeze.

"That's right, honey. You did nothing wrong. As Viola said, it's just a very sensitive subject and I _promise_ to tell you all about it at a later date. But for now, why don't you come over here and properly meet your youngest sister, Nao," Saeko said as she pulled back slightly from the red-haired girl, to wave her hand at Kruger for her to come over.

Kruger looked hesitantly at the hand beckoning her over, and then felt a slight touch against her shoulder. She looked over to see her twin giving her a small grin of encouragement, and waving her hand in a slight _go on_ motion. Shizuru also gave her a smile of encouragement, and when Kruger felt Viola squeeze her hand once more, she let out a light sigh of resignation. She hesitantly squeezed Viola's hand back before she let go, and began to walk towards her mother and stepsister.

Ryo looked surprisingly to Kumiko and Hiro, like a worried mother hen with his hands twisting before him, as he looked at his ex-wife and first-born daughter.

"You still love her very much, don't you?" a soft voice speaking quietly into his ear startled Hiro, and his ocean-blue eyes glanced over to see Kumiko smiling serenely back at him.

Ryo dropped his head slightly and looked down at his hands, which he slowly lowered to his sides as he spoke, "yes, I really still do. I hurt her _terribly_...and not a day goes by that I don't wish I could just go back, and undo all the hurt and pain I caused her. I can only hope now that she'll allow me to once again be in her life, and our daughters' lives. I want to be a good dad to them. I was a horrible father towards Natsuki. I was never around, and she's grown up barely knowing her own father. I want to change that...no...I _will_ change that. I'll be the father that my girls need, and I will _always_ be there if they need me. And hopefully...and I know this is most likely a pointless dream, but one that I still have nonetheless...I hope that someday Saeko will look at me the way she used to...before my lying, cheating, and drinking ruined it all. I want us to get back to the place where she used to look at me, like I was the most amazing guy in the world to her. I lost her trust when I hurt and betrayed her...that was my doing...my fault...and I've paid the _heavy_ price of the loss of her love as a result. But I _still_ hope that one day she'll be able to forgive me. And hopefully someday, she'll give me the chance to be the man I once was to her. The man she looked at with all the love and adoration in the world. I want that with her again...with my Saeko...," Ryo trailed off wistfully, as he looked over at the members of his estranged family.

Ryo was suddenly startled out of his thoughts, when he felt a strong hand clap him lightly on the shoulder. He looked over to see Hiro giving him a wide grin, before he said, "well then, Kumiko and I will help you achieve your dream. After hearing such a heartfelt speech, how could we _not_ want to help? Saeko won't admit it, but she's been incredibly lonely and depressed after what happened with her...last husband," Hiro said with a slight frown on his face.

"Yeah... I heard about what had happened to her and Natsuki. You have **_no_** idea how much I wanted to rush back here _immediately_ and see my two precious girls. But a certain...situation...kept me from being able to return here. Things have been resolved since then, but that is another major regret that I have. Not being able to come to the rescue of my daughter, and the woman I still love. So I instead focused all of my energy into tracking down and finding Kruger."

"And that's why I said that Kumiko and I will help you, in your quest to win back Saeko's heart. Saeko deserves to be fully happy again, and Natsuki and Kruger deserve to have their father fully in their lives. So we'll do whatever we can to help you achieve your goals. Isn't that right, darling?" Hiro inquired of his wife, as he gave her a quick wink and a loving grin. Kumiko gave her husband a sweet and adoring smile in return, as she nodded her head in agreement to helping Ryo win the heart of his ex-wife back.

Ryo looked first at Hiro then at Kumiko, and gave them both a bright, grateful grin as he whispered a heartfelt "thank you", before focusing his attention back onto his family before him.

Kruger had by now reached her mother, and stood slightly fidgeting before her and the younger, red-haired girl. Kruger then felt her mother place a warm hand on her back, and she looked up into Saeko's captivating jade-green eyes.

"Kruger, darling. This is your younger sister, Nao. Nao this is your _oldest_ sister, Kruger," Saeko said, as she had the two girls face each other.

Kruger was just about to say "yo", when she heard a quickly muffled snicker, causing her to narrow her eyes suspiciously at the young girl standing before her.

"Kruger? _Kruger_? That's your name! So, that means that your name is Kruger _Kuga_?" Nao exclaimed, as she began shaking with laughter.

"I _told_ you that she'd have a field day with your name!" Natsuki called out in a highly-amused voice.

Kruger let out a low growl, as her fists clenched lightly at her sides. Then before Nao knew what was happening, she suddenly found herself in a headlock with the noogie of a lifetime, being administrated to her head.

"AARRGH!" Nao cried out, while the sounds of Natsuki laughing at the top of her lungs, and calling out for her to "not fight it!" rang through the air.

* * *

 **AN** \- Hope you all enjoyed! Please review~ =D  
(And thank you all for the awesome and amazing response to _A Cowgirl's Heart_. I'll definitely update it along with my other works I'm doing my best to update as well~ =3)

 _~Yuri_


	11. Chapter 11

"Alright you little munchkins! It's time for bed," Saeko called out, as she finished washing up the last of the plates, that had held slices of birthday cake.

"Aww, but Mooom," Natsuki whined from her spot on the living room couch, where she sat beside Shizuru watching _Finding Nemo_ on the big screen tv.

"No _aww Mom_ from you, young lady. It's been a very long though wonderful day, and even if _you're_ not tired when I looked in on you guys earlier, I saw that your sister was," Saeko answered before she took a small moment to herself, to let out a soft sigh of extreme maternal pleasure, at being able to mention _anything_ about Natsuki's sister. She didn't think she would _ever_ get over the small thrill of intense joy she felt, whenever she thought about having her two children back together again with her.

Natsuki glanced down at the spot on the floor before her, and had to hide a grin as she saw Kruger with her head resting on Viola's lap. The young chestnut-haired girl was also lightly dozing, with her back pressed against the front of the couch.

Natsuki felt a light tap on her shoulder, and she looked over to see Shizuru trying to hold in her giggles, as she pointed down at their sleeping twins. Natsuki let a wide grin spread across her face, as she raised a finger to her lips and pointed down towards Kruger. Shizuru's delicate eyebrow went up in curiosity, and Natsuki gave her a semi-evil and mischievous look, before she reached over the edge of the couch, and lightly wiggled the tip of her finger in Kruger's exposed ear.

Kruger grumbled lightly before slowly raising her hand in her sleep, to try to brush away whatever was bothering her ear.

Natsuki pulled back a bit and exchanged a highly-amused glance with Shizuru, as they both tried to hold in their giggles. Natsuki then leaned over once more, and again lightly poked her finger into Kruger's ear. This time Kruger let out a low growl, and grabbed hold of Natsuki's hand.

Natsuki let out a loud startled _squawk_ then tumbled forward off the couch, as Kruger pulled hard on her hand. Luckily for Natsuki the living room floor was heavily carpeted, plus a couple pillows from the couch had found their way onto the floor. So her 'hard' landing onto the floor, luckily for her turned out to be fairly soft.

Kruger made a loud sleepy sound of displeasure as she slowly opened her eyes, and realized that her face wasn't on the soft carpet as it had originally been, when she had decided to close her eyes for just a few minutes earlier. Instead it now seemed _much_ later than she remembered, and her face was pressed against a warm leg...and there seemed to be a spot of drool present where her mouth was.

Kruger immediately sat straight up, and looked into slightly-sleepy yet brightly-twinkling, garnet-red eyes.

"Hello, sleepyhead. Did you enjoy your sleep?"

Kruger turned several shades of red as she one, couldn't believe that she had somehow found her face resting against Viola's leg. And two, that she had somehow managed to actually _drool_ on the other girl at some point. Oh, how she wished the ground would simply open up and swallow her whole _right_ this instant. But alas, it did not. And to add insult to injury Kruger heard a loud giggle, causing her to quickly look over at Viola, who was utterly failing at this point to contain her giggles.

Kruger then heard a low growl and turned her head just in time, to see what her still sleep-fogged mind thought was a small jungle cat, leaping through the air to pounce on her, before it wrestled her to the ground.

"Oi! Why'd you yank me off the couch!" Natsuki exclaimed, as she half-growled into Kruger's face.

"Well, it was technically your fault Natsuki for tickling Kruger's ear while she slept," Shizuru volunteered cheerfully from her spot on the couch.

"Shizuru!" Natsuki exclaimed, as she looked over at her best friend with a look that clearly said _how could you betray me like that!  
_

Shizuru flashed her a bright, innocent grin in response.

Natsuki let a scowl cross her face, before she suddenly found herself being tossed over the side, as Kruger heaved and shoved the unwelcome weight off of her body.

"Get off me already, you brat. You're lucky I'm too tired to really deal with you right now, otherwise I'd give you a noogie you'd never forget," Kruger scowled at her twin.

"Bah! I'd like to see you try!" Natsuki growled back, and looked ready to pounce on her sister and wrestle her back down to the ground again, when the lights in the living room back came on full force, after having been dimmed for them to watch the movie. The sudden brightness half-blinded everyone in the room, and then the disgruntled voice of Nao could be heard from the entrance to the living room.

"Don't you _losers_ know what time it is! Julia and I were enjoying a great sleep, but y'all were making so much noise it woke me up," Nao grumbled in annoyance, as she pointed a small stuffed spider at the others in the room.

"Nao is absolutely correct, girls. It's almost midnight, and well passed bedtime for you all. Now you all come along, everyone. Shizuru and Viola, you girls can use the upstairs bathroom to shower and change into your overnight clothes. Natsuki and Kruger, you two can use the downstairs bathroom. Once you're all done you can come back to the living room, and I'll have all the comforters and pillows spread out for you girls to sleep on," Saeko said as she came to the entrance of the living room, and stood behind Nao. She then began lightly running her fingers gently through the small girl's fiery-red hair.

Nao tried to hide just how much she was enjoying the light, gentle strokes through her hair and realized that she was failing miserably, when she noticed Natsuki trying to hide her sniggers.

Nao stuck her tongue out at Natsuki, and quickly turned around to wrap her small arms around Saeko's legs in a light hug, before she quickly ran down the hallway back to her room, hugging her stuffed friend tightly against her chest.

"Okay, Aunty Saeko," Shizuru and Viola chimed together as they slowly rose to their feet, and began making their way out of the living room to head upstairs.

Saeko smiled at the Fujino twins as they passed her, then she slowly made her way into the living room, and sat down on the couch.

"Come here, please girls," Saeko said softly, as she made a _come here_ motion with her hands to both of her children.

Natsuki immediately rose to her feet, and made her way over to her mother.

Kruger took a few seconds longer as she hesitated, before she also stood and slowly walked over to Saeko.

Once both of her girls were standing before her, Saeko reached out and wrapped her arms tightly around them both, pulling them close against her body and just enjoying the precious opportunity to be able to do so.

Natsuki wrapped her small arms around her mother's neck, and easily returned the warm hug.

Kruger had gone stiff when Saeko had first hugged her, but after a few seconds of the tender warmth surrounding her, she finally relaxed and allowed herself to return the warm hug. When they finally pulled back from the embrace they all wore smiles, with Kruger doing her best to hide a shy one.

"Come now, my precious darlings. It's time for your baths," Saeko said as she slowly rose to her feet, and took a hand of each of her children into her own.

"Aww, but Mooom. I don't wanna take a bath right now," Natsuki whined, as her mother began leading her and Kruger out of the living room, and down the hallway towards the downstairs bathroom.

"Baby," Kruger said with a wide smirk.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am _not_!"

"Are _too_!"

Saeko just let out a soft sigh, as her two children continued to bicker back and forth with each other, but she didn't try to stop them... _yet_.

Instead she just let a small, tranquil smile cross her lips as she relished the sounds of her two, precious daughter's voices echoing lightly through the house.

* * *

 **AN** – Hope you all enjoyed! Please review~ =D


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note** \- *sneaks in edits of chapter all throughout busy 10-hr work day, so chap can be posted sometime this week* XD

Hope you all enjoy! 8D

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One week had passed since Kruger came into everyone's lives, and the Kugas and Fujinos had decided to enjoy a day out together, to take their families out on a small picnic. The place they chose to enjoy their picnic was located in a small park area, that overlooked a high and wide guardrail-protected cliff.

Kumiko and Hiro sat at one of the two picnic tables, that were placed at the top of the cliff for people to utilize. They had lunch that consisted of different types of sandwiches, soda, and tea already set out on the table.

At the next table sat Saeko and Ryo, both looking slightly uncomfortable to be placed at the same table. Kumiko and Hiro hid small, sneaky grins at their seating arrangements. They had managed to convince Saeko to invite Ryo to this little outing, by telling the emerald-eyed woman that this would be good 'family time' for all of them. Placed between the two exes was a tray of gooey chocolate-fudge brownies, that would serve as dessert once everyone had their fill of sandwiches.

"Tag, you're it!" Natsuki cried out as she tapped Nao on the shoulder, from their spot not too far away from the adults.

"What! Why do I have to be it!" Nao exclaimed, with an unhappy scowl.

"Because I say so of course," Natsuki answered with a sly grin, as she stared at her younger sibling with her hands on her hips in a triumphant pose.

"You two have _got_ to be kidding me. Tag? We're going to be playing _tag_? Just how old do you think I am?" Kruger demanded as she mimicked Natsuki's hands-on-hips pose, while scowling at her younger sisters.

"Oh, stop being a baby, Kruger. Tag is fun. Now stop being a stick-in-the-mud, and come play with us," Natsuki exclaimed, as she raised her arm and waved her hand towards Shizuru and Viola.

Kruger huffed loudly, as she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest.

"I refuse."

"Ugh, you are _so_ annoying! Just play the game with us already," Natsuki growled, as she faced off against her twin. Natsuki then felt a gentle touch run down the side of her arm, and small fingers twine themselves gently with hers. Natsuki looked over to her right and saw Shizuru giving her a calm, sweet smile that reached all the way up to her scarlet-red eyes.

"Please calm down, Natsuki. It's okay if Kruger doesn't want to play tag with us. I'm sure she has a very good reason for not wanting to. Maybe she would rather do something else. Is that right, Kruger? Is there something else that you'd rather do?" Shizuru asked, as she turned her intense gaze towards the other Kuga twin.

Kruger shifted uncomfortably, as that gaze landed directly on her. She opened her mouth to reply, when she felt a light poke against the side of her cheek. She rolled her emerald-green eyes over to the side, to see a mischievously-grinning Viola looking back at her.

"So why don't you wanna play?" Viola asked, as she idly poked Kruger's cheek a couple more times.

Kruger lightly cleared her throat as she tried to ignore the slight tingling sensation, that had passed through her body at having Viola poking her cheek, and standing so close to her.

"I just have a better idea of something to do to pass the time," Kruger replied as she averted her eyes, and tried to hide a blush from Viola's cheekily-grinning face.

"Oh? You _do_ have a better idea? Good. I don't wanna play tag, and I don't want to be _it_ ," Nao spoke up, as she glared hard at Natsuki.

Natsuki threw her hands up into the air and let out an aggrieved sigh, before she pointed a finger first at Nao and then at Kruger.

"You both fail. _Epic_ fail," Natsuki proclaimed as she dropped her hand, and folded her arms across her chest, while jutting her lips out in a small pout.

It was now Natsuki's turn to find herself on the receiving end of a finger poking her in the face. This time it was Shizuru poking lightly at her pouty bottom lip.

"You know if you keep your lips like that, they'll stay that way forever...though it _is_ a pretty cute look," Shizuru said with a teasing smile and giggle.

Natsuki felt her cheeks instantly heat, and then felt her blush grow hotter, as Nao laughed loudly at her expense.

Natsuki let out a soft growl as she turned her face away, and tried her best to ignore all the teasing laughter.

Shizuru and Viola looked at each other and exchanged amused giggles, at how fun and easy it was to to tease both Kuga girls.

"So Kruger, you gonna tell us what you wanna do that's _so_ much more interesting than playing tag?" Natsuki asked, as she glared at her twin.

"Just follow me," Kruger said with a small, secret smile as she turned around, and headed towards a small stand of trees that partially hid the small park from view. Beyond the trees the Fujino's car was parked beside Saeko's, in the small parking lot that was provided for the cliff-side park.

Ryo had arrived on his bike which was a sleek, black Ducati with bold, midnight-blue trim, and he had decided to push it into the small stand of trees to park it there, instead of the parking lot. So now Kuga led Natsuki, Shizuru, Viola, and Nao towards the bike.

"Hey, ah...Mom! We're just going to go look at Ryo's bike for a bit. We won't be too far," Kruger called out to Saeko, who she had noticed had looked over in question at her departing children. Kruger still found it a little difficult to call Saeko 'Mom' after not having the opportunity to do so for most of her life, but she was quickly getting used to it. And she _did_ enjoy seeing the quick, warm smile that would grace Saeko's lips every time she called her Mom.

"Hey! Why don't you ever call me Dad? Or even Papa. Come on, Kruugy. Call me Papa just one time," Ryo cried out plaintively towards his eldest daughter.

"Never!" Kruger exclaimed, as she led the rest of the girls towards the trees and Ryo's bike.

"No respect. No respect at all," Ryo grumbled, as he slunk down low on the picnic table bench and pouted.

"If you pout like that your face will stay that way," Saeko said with a light twinkle in her eyes.

Ryo let out a small grumpy sound which only caused Saeko, Kumiko, and Hiro to laugh loudly in amusement.

"No respect at all," Ryo groaned, with a small smile twitching up the corners of his lips.

"So what's so exciting about looking at your Dad's bike anyway," Nao asked in a completely bored tone as she, the Fujino girls, and her older sisters all stood around Ryo's bike a couple minutes later.

" _Ryo's_ bike. The day that I call him _Dad_ is the day that all the mayo in the world runs out," Kruger replied, as she began fishing around in her pants pocket.

"Never!" Natsuki cried out in horror, as the mental image of a world without her favourite condiment filled her mind.

"You like mayo too?" Kruger paused in her pocket searching, as she looked over with a slightly-raised eyebrow at her younger twin.

"Of course! It's one of the main food groups," Natsuki replied with a sharp, affirmative nod of her head.

Kruger let a wide grin spread across her face, as she held her hand up high for a high-five. Natsuki immediately returned the grin, and raised her hand to enthusiastically give her big sister some skin.

"You Natsuki, are my kind of twin," Kruger exclaimed with a smirk, as she finally pulled the object she'd been digging for out of her pocket.

Natsuki tried to keep a slight blush off her cheeks at Kruger's compliment, and of course knew she hadn't succeeded when Shizuru hid a light giggle behind her hand. Natsuki stuck her tongue out at her best friend, which Shizuru immediately returned with a poked-out-tongue of her own.

"Yo, so what's that you just pulled out of your pocket?" Nao asked impatiently.

"This... _this_ is the key to Ryo's bike," Kruger said with a small, sly grin.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just how did you get _that_ , and more importantly _what_ are you doing with it?" Natsuki exclaimed, with a deep scowl leveled at her sister.

"How? Well that's for _me_ to know, and _you_ to never find out," Kruger answered with a smirk, as she twirled the key around on her finger by the metal ring it was on.

Natsuki let out a low growl, bunched her hands into fists, and took a small step towards her aggravating sister as she replied, "then what the _heck_ do you think you're doing with it! I'm sure Ryo didn't just _hand_ it over to you."

"Well duh, of course he didn't. And you want to know what I'm going to do with it? I'm going to start up his bike, and let you guys see and hear how sweet this ride is," Kruger said with a reckless gleam in her eye.

"Cool! You make a _much_ more interesting and entertaining older sister," Nao exclaimed, as her bright-green eyes lit up with excitement.

"Kruger, I don't think you should do that. When our parents hear you start up the bike, they're just going to get mad at us," Viola said, as she gently laid her hand on Kruger's arm.

Kruger looked over at Viola, and gave her a cocky grin as she answered, "it's okay. I'm only going to turn it on for a few seconds. Ryo won't mind because he's let me start up his bike _tons_ of times before, when we were riding across country towards you guys. Mom...yeah she _might_ get a little mad. But I'm sure Ryo can talk her outta being _too_ mad, and besides it'll only be for a few seconds. Come on, where's your sense of fun and adventure!" Kruger exclaimed, as she placed her free hand over Viola's.

Viola looked down at the hand lightly resting on top of hers, before looking over with a worried expression at her sister. Shizuru returned her worried stare with a helpless shrug.

"Well, _I_ think this idea is stupid, and you're only going to get _all_ of us in trouble," Natsuki stated with a very displeased frown on her face.

"Bah, you're no fun, brat. You obviously haven't 'lived it up' much in your life. You've been _way_ too sheltered," Kruger answered, as she stepped away from Viola's hand, and walked over to Ryo's bike.

Natsuki's frown deepened, as her clenched fists tightened further in growing anger and frustration.

"Hey, why don't you cool down, and stop being such a wet blanket," Nao said in passing to Natsuki, as she followed Kruger over to Ryo's bike. "This is the first really interesting thing we've done _all_ day. And besides _I_ won't be getting into any trouble, cause _she's_ the one messing with the bike. I'm just wanna see and hear how 'cool' this bike is when she starts it."

"I _won't_ get into any trouble. As I said, it'll only be for a few seconds, and besides I _can't_ get into any trouble. What do you think they'll do? Punish me? Get real. I've been through a dozen foster homes, and no one has _ever_ been able to punish me. Just because Ryo...and Mom...are my actual parents this time doesn't make any difference," Kruger said in a voice that had harden momentarily, when she spoke of her former foster homes. Kruger then climbed onto the seat of the bike, which was way too big for her as her feet could barely reach the kickstand.

"I don't care what you say! We're gonna get into _huge_ trouble for this, and I'm _not_ hanging around with you to get punished," Natsuki exclaimed as she began walking away, and she made sure to grasp onto Shizuru's hand, to tug the chestnut-haired girl along with her.

Shizuru looked over at Viola helplessly for a second, and communicated to her twin through her eyes that she _needed_ to try to talk Kruger out of this.

Nao just leaned up against the side of a tree and watched, what was to her, pure entertainment of the highest order.

Viola gave Shizuru a firm nod, as she opened her mouth to tell Kruger that all of this _really_ wasn't a good idea, when the sound of a bike motor roaring to life filled the air around them.

Immediately all the adults at the picnic tables looked up, with Saeko and Ryo rising to their feet with duel expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces.

Ryo quickly began digging around in his pants pockets for his bike key, and groaned out loud as he realized that Kruger had somehow managed to swipe it from him again.

"I'm _really_ going to have to have a _long_ talk with that young lady about touching other people's property without their _express_ permission to do so," Ryo grumbled loudly as he, Saeko, and the Fujinos began making their way towards their children.

"And I'm going to have to have a looong talk with _you_ about our daughter being so comfortable around those unsafe machines, that she makes it a obvious habit of climbing onto yours and starting it up," Saeko growled with a deadly glare at Ryo, as they continued making their way towards their children.

Ryo let out a nervous laugh, as the sound of Kruger revving the bike's engine grew louder.

Suddenly though, there was a loud _shriek_ and the Ducati came bursting out from behind the trees, with a terrified-looking Kruger hanging onto the handlebars for dear life.

Saeko let out a shocked gasp, that was echoed by the rest of the adults around her. They then watched in horror as Kruger and the bike sped wildly and uncontrollably, towards the guardrail separating them from the edge of the cliff, and the sharp-stone filled waters below.

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Hope you all enjoyed this chap~ ;3

Please review and let me know what you all thought of it~ ^.^


	13. Chapter 13

**AN** – I'm still alive ^^

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As the bike sped ever closer towards the looming guardrail, with his daughter speeding closer and closer to what would ultimately be her doom, Ryo began to run with a speed that was nearly inhuman.

He angled his body so that he curved around the front of the guardrail, and just as Kruger and his bike would have sped by him, he _leapt_ from the ground with all the muscle and power that his legs could give, and he somehow managed to get his arms wrapped around Kruger's waist, where he then used the momentum of his leap to _yank_ his daughter from the bike's seat, and the two of the tumbled head over heels to the hard ground below.

Ryo's ears were ringing hard from the sudden violent impact he had had with the ground, but he had done his best to shield Kruger from the fall. He now had his daughter curled protectively in the crook of his arms, and he tightened his grip on her, and buried his face into her dark hair, as his heart pounded wildly in terror of how close he had just come to losing his first child...again.

Suddenly the sound of straining metal could be heard, and Ryo looked up in time to see his once precious bike _slam_ hard into the guardrail, rip through the metal a bit with the impact, then he watched with a sort of detachment as his bike flipped over the guardrail, and began plummeting to the rock-strewn waters below.

He heard when the bike made contact with the rocks, and felt the heat as a massive plume of heat rose from the bottom of the cliff, as his bike exploded on the rocks below.

Ryo let out a shuddering breath, and then looked down to see teary terrified verdant-green eyes looking back up at him.

"D...Da...Daddy...I'm...I'm so...so sorry," Kruger stuttered out as she grabbed the front of Ryo's shirt, buried her face against his chest, and began to cry great heaving sobs.

"Shh, there there honey. It's alright. As long as you're alive and safe, it's all okay," Ryo murmured gently against his precious daughter's ear, as he held his crying child tighter against his chest.

He had realized immediately what she had called him, but he had _never_ in his life imagined that that this would be the situation where she would finally open up and call him Daddy.

He would rather have been called just 'Ryo' for the rest of his life, if he could have spared his daughter this horrifying experience.

"RYO! KRUGER!" Ryo could suddenly hear Saeko's terrified voice calling out his and his daughter's name, and then without warning he felt a body fall onto his, and then tears began to fall on his face, as he looked up into the sobbing face of his ex-wife.

Saeko was clinging tightly to her ex-husband and once-missing child, and she felt as if her heart would never stop trying to pound its way out of her chest. She had thought that she was about to lose her precious daughter again, and this time in the most horrifying of ways, right before her very eyes.

And then without warning Ryo had just sped out to intercept Kruger on the bike, and then he and jumped and knocked their daughter off the bike, the two of them rolling and tumbling on the ground, as the bike then hit the guardrail not too long after that, and fell to its demise.

Saeko couldn't care less about that damn death machine. She was secretly glad that it was now gone and out of their lives, but she desperately wished that he poor daughter hadn't been caught up in the bike's demise.

Saeko let out a deep shuddering breath as tears continued to flow from her emerald-coloured eyes, and she pulled back enough so that she could look down at most of her family held in her arms.

She saw Kruger with her face huddled down against Ryo's chest as her little hands clutched her father's shirt for dear life, as small sobs continued to shake her small body.

Saeko looked up into Ryo's slightly-damp blue eyes, and they both shared watery smiles, as Saeko soothingly ran her fingers through her daughter's thick dark locks.

Ryo then gathered Kruger's trembling body up into his arms, and slowly rose to his feet. Once he was standing he saw that everyone had gathered around him and his daughter, with varying degrees of worry on their faces.

Viola and Shizuru were being held tightly by each of their parents, and both girl's had tears streaming from their ruby-red eyes, as they watched their new friend being held tightly in the arms of her father.

Nao and Natsuki were both standing beside the Fujino's, with both of their little hands tightly clasping each others. Saeko who was still kneeling down near the ground, just opened her arms and without a second more Natsuki and Nao both rushed into their mother's arms, and began crying loudly as Saeko held them both close, and whispered comforting words to her daughters.

"I think we should get you both to the hospital, Ryo," Hiro spoke up softly, as he wrapped one arm around his wife pulling her closely against his body, while tenderly brushing his hand down Shizuru's chestnut-locks, as his youngest daughter clutched tightly at the fabric of his pants.

"I agree. That was quite a hard fall you both took, and there might be some hidden injuries. And there _are_ a few scratches on you both that are bleeding, and that should be looked at and cleaned," Kumiko added, as she leaned into her husbands embrace, and kept her arms wrapped lightly about Viola's shoulders, who was standing right before her mother.

"Of course you're both right. That was exactly my plan as well," Ryo replied as he began striding purposefully towards the park's parking lot, and Saeko's car.

"Come on, girls. Let's go," Saeko softly whispered to Natsuki and Nao, and she slowly rose to her feet and began leading her distraught children towards her car.

Once in the lot everyone piled into their respective vehicles, and they all drove over to the nearest hospital where Ryo and Kruger were thoroughly checked over.

Ryo had banged up his shoulder a bit where he had taken the full brunt of the fall that had saved his daughter's life when he pulled her from the bike. The doctor wrapped his shoulder with heavy gauze and gave him a prescription for some pain medication, as now that the shock of the event had worn off, Ryo was now feeling the many aches and pains over his body from his hard tumble.

Kruger had sprained her wrist a little, as somehow during the fall from the bike her hand had knocked hard into the ground, and so she now had to wear a bandage wrapped tightly around her hand and wrist for the next 3 weeks, unto the sprain healed.

All in all they had both gotten off lucky. Kruger more so than Ryo, as Kruger had been saved from death by her father. And while both set of parents understood that their children _should_ be punished for partaking in something that had almost cost one of their lives, they all decided that what had _almost_ happened was punishment enough for them right now. However when things had settled down a bit, all the children _were_ going to get a sturdy talking to for about their reckless actions.

It was now late at night in the Kuga household. Both Kruger and Ryo had been released from the hospital with strict instructions for them both to rest, and take things very easy for the next few days.

Saeko had offered Ryo the guestroom to stay in while he looked into getting new transportation. It was the least she could do Saeko figured to herself, for the man who had saved their firstborn child...twice now.

Kruger was laying in her bed in the room that her mother had made up for her after she first came to live with the rest of her family. She hadn't wanted to share rooms with Natsuki, like Fujino twins did with each other. But as Kruger lay wide awake in her bed this night, staring up blankly at the ceiling in her darkened room, she found herself wishing that her twin were there in the room with her. She was feeling...vulnerable...a feeling that she had fought against feeling over all the years that she had been on her own. But with all that had happened this day, she wished now that she had someone to just be near here, so she wouldn't feel quite so lonely.

Suddenly Kruger heard a soft _creek_ and she quickly looked over to her slowly widening door, until a small head popped in around the door's frame, followed by a second small head popping in below the first.

"Ahh...would you mind if Nao and I stayed in here with you tonight? It would only just be for tonight! We just...I just...can we please stay?" Natsuki's slightly-trembling voice called in through the darkness.

Kruger doing her best to hide the relief that she felt at her wish of companionship being answered, nodded her head once and then said in a slightly-gruff voice.

"Uhh...yeah sure. Just...don't crowd me too much on the bed."

"Sure!" Natsuki replied with a grin, as she and Nao slowly crept into Kruger's room, Natsuki closing the door softly behind them.

Nao had already found her way onto Kruger's bed by the time Natsuki also made her way over, and she saw that Nao had already quietly inserted herself between Kruger and the wall.

"So, is there a reason why this one is being so quiet?" Kruger asked with a slight tilt of her head towards the youngest girl in the room, her actions barely illuminated by the glow of the small nightlight in the room.

Natsuki didn't respond at once, just climbed onto the bed and lay before her sister, her verdant-green eyes looking back into their twin.

"She's just...she was really scared today...by what happened...we all were...but Nao and I have had a pretty bad experience with her dad, and so she doesn't want to lose anymore people she either once cared about...or care about now," Natsuki answered, as she peeked over at her little sister. Nao had turned her back towards both Kruger and Natsuki, but Natsuki could tell that she was still awake. She didn't think that Nao would mind her telling Kruger what she just had...it was the truth after all. And she had just said out loud what Nao couldn't.

Kruger nodded once in response to her sister's words, and didn't push Nao to add anything. She knew how it could be to feel embarrassed to show how you really care about someone. She was feeling kind of embarrassed herself for having wanted company this night, and then for feeling so relieved and happy when she got it.

Her mental ruminations were suddenly halted however when she felt a small hand take her own, and she looked up to see Natsuki looking right back at her, silent tears falling from her eyes to land on her pillow.

"I'm just...I'm just... _really_ glad that you're okay, Krug. We... _I_ just got you back, after not knowing that I'd lost you so long ago. _Please_ don't ever do something so crazy again, big sis. Please...I don't want to lose you again," Natsuki pleaded as she squeezed lightly on their joined hands, having made sure that she had clasped Kruger's uninjured hand.

Kruger looked down at their joined hands and frowned for a few seconds, before she looked back up and gave her sister a firm nod of her head.

"I promise. I'll try to be more careful."

Natsuki let out a small sigh of relief, and gave her sister's hand once last squeeze before she began to release Kruger's hand. She was then surprised to feel Kruger grasped their joined hands tightly, trapping her hand from pulling free.

Natsuki looked back over at Kruger, and in the dim light of the room saw a faint blush dusting her sister's cheeks, as Kruger looked everywhere but at her younger sister.

Natsuki let a soft smile play across her lips, before she squeezed her sister's hand back. A sudden light snore then startled then both, and they both looked over towards Nao, to see the small redhead laying with her arms and legs spread out, while she drew more soft snores.

Natsuki and Kruger looked back at each other, and both began to giggle. Once they had gotten their chuckles out, they both squeezed each others hands once more, and snuggled down into more comfortable positions on the bed, and closed their eyes to fall away into dreamland.

They never saw their parents peeking at all three of them from the slightly-ajar door, that they had quietly pushed open to check up on their kids, when Saeko had discovered Natsuki and Nao missing from their respective rooms.

And the now deeply-sleeping girls never saw their parents softly click the door back shut, leaving their children to their dreams, and the sweet shared company of each other.


End file.
